Clause 5
Sale of Student Loans Bill
5:30 pm
John Hayes (Shadow Minister, Innovation, Universities and Skills; South Holland and The Deepings, Conservative)
That was a weak argument when it was used this morning and it is a weak argument now. Many such bodies are specified in legislation. The nature of legislation is that sometimes one has to specify those agents and bodies—those organs of government. The Government would be much more likely to satisfy the doubts and assuage the fears of those who have reservations about this matter if it were to put what the Minister said at the beginning of his remarks in the Bill. That would be something of the order that collection should be by the Student Loans Company.
I understand that the Minister is concerned about fixing that measure in stone, but my goodness, if that view prevailed in respect of legislation, we would pass virtually nothing here. So I am not so sure that that is a very convincing reason not to put this measure in the Bill. At the very least, it would deal with any doubts that exist about people collecting debts who ought not to be.