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Sale of Student Loans Bill

I refer the hon. Gentleman to clause 6(4), which clearly states that personal information can be disclosed and used only"““for purposes in connection with a transferred loan.””" I might add that his definition of ““exciting”” clearly differs from mine. The House will be aware that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made a statement on Tuesday on the breach of procedures that led to missing personal data relating to child benefit from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. My right hon. Friend rightly stated that that was an extremely serious failure by HMRC in its responsibility to the public. He also stated that immediate steps had been and were being taken to prevent that from happening again. The Government take the protection of personal data, in whatever form, extremely seriously, and student loan data are no exception. The provisions catering for the sharing of HMRC information in the Bill will strengthen the framework for legal protection of HMRC data in respect of all loans, whether sold or unsold. The Bill will extend an existing criminal sanction prohibiting the wrongful disclosure of HMRC information outside the terms of the legislative gateway.