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Sale of Students Loans Bill

My Lords, my understanding of the amendment is that it would make the Secretary of State party to all onward sales, and I am grateful to the noble Baroness for explaining that. She noted that in the ““extremely unlikely”” event of an onward sale, the vehicle would change. But in the most unlikely contingencies lurk the most unlikely problems. What would happen if an attempt to purchase the loans was made by a power outside the Secretary of State’s jurisdiction? Would that be banned? Would a potential purchaser have to understand that his onward sale capacity would be restricted to this country? The amendment makes the Secretary of State party only to onward sales. Presumably this would not give him or her any power to influence such a decision. Essentially the question which must be addressed is to what degree the amendment would restrict the potential of onward transfers. On the one hand, there seems to be the need for a considerable amount of restriction or we risk the loans escaping the Secretary of State’s jurisdiction. On the other hand, will this not be used as a bargaining chip to drive down the price? We on this side of the House think that there need to be a fuller explanation of the mechanisms that will ensure this extra control and the likely impact on the nature and price of the sale.