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Sale of Student Loans Bill

Let me state this for the record; then if I need to follow it up with statements to other hon. Members, I will do so. The loan regulations that we establish through the negative resolution procedure in the House will apply equally to debt owned by the public sector and by the private sector. That is the fundamental reassurance: the graduate repaying their student loan will notice no difference whatever in the terms and conditions involved. Indeed, apart from receiving a letter from the Student Loans Company when the sale initially takes place, they are unlikely to notice any difference as, according to the requirements that we have set out, we will expect the SLC to continue to collect on behalf of the owner of the debt, whether that is the Government or a private sector owner. The value-for-money judgment on each transaction will, of course, be open to parliamentary scrutiny. Amendment No. 7 refers specifically to the Student Loans Company. Its effect would be that only the SLC and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs would be able to be involved in collection activity on sold loans. Amendment No. 8 seeks to ensure that only the Secretary of State or the SLC could make payment of sums due to a loan purchaser—whether as principal, interest or penalty—to that purchaser. In so far as the hon. Gentleman's intention is to ensure that the SLC continues to fulfil its pivotal functions for all loans, I fully agree with the sentiment that gave rise to the amendment. The Government fully intend that the SLC will remain the administrator for all loans, whether sold or retained. The Bill, as drafted, allows the Government to insist that purchasers administer loans in this way through the contracts that we enter into with them. The SLC is a private limited company, but not a statutory body. There are several technical reasons why it would be problematic to name on the face of the Bill an organisation of this sort. The drafting would have to cater for the possibility of the company's ceasing to exist—even though that is an unlikely eventuality—and so would have to provide a wider definition rather than simply referring to the SLC. For that reason, I do not believe that the amendment works.