Clause 3
Sale of Student Loans Bill
4:45 pm
John Hayes (Shadow Minister, Innovation, Universities and Skills; South Holland and The Deepings, Conservative)
We are flying through the Bill, and I would like to slow things down a little by encouraging a thorough examination of clause 3. Clause 3 is a fundamentally important part of the Bill with regard to resale, which was mentioned this morning and this afternoon as an area of concern. I wish to draw attention to a way in which the Bill might usefully be amended, and perhaps the Government might consider it before Report or elsewhere during the Bill’s passage. This morning we focused on subsection (6) of clause 3—on onward sales—and particularly on line 16 and the phrase “Transfer arrangements may”, which is followed by a series of steps that the Secretary of State can take to limit the circumstances in which transfer might take place. I am not sure why it says “may” and not “will”. The point was dealt with earlier to some degree, but I do not feel that we have had a satisfactory answer.
I have no doubt that the Government are determined to ensure appropriate protection. However, it is unhelpful to leave doubts in the Bill about whether or not the Secretary of State will use those powers. It is useful for the powers to be stated in the legislation, but I want at least to probe why “may” has been used, rather than “will”.