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Sale of Student Loans Bill

May I associate myself with the outbreak of friendly relations between the Government and Conservative Front Benches? All our debates on Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills matters, whether on this Bill, in Question Time or on the speaking circuit outside the Chamber, are conducted in a friendly and well-informed manner. I welcome Lords amendment No. 1, which was tabled in response to an amendment moved by my colleague Baroness Sharp of Guildford in another place, calling for the borrowers to be included among those who are notified of the change of circumstances and the accompanying information, about which the House will be informed, once a sale has taken place, and for that notification to take place within three months. Lords amendments Nos. 4, 5 and 6 concern further transfers and onward sales, and stipulate that the Secretary of State should be a party to them to ensure that the Treasury's interests are safeguarded. They also clarify the fact that the onward sales are of the legal title rather than equitable interest resulting from, for instance, securitisation. Let me raise again an issue that was raised by me and by others back in January, on Report. I assume that in all these cases the agency that will issue the various notifications on behalf of the Secretary of State will be the Student Loans Company. I do not think we want the borrower to receive multiple notifications about different aspects of his or her accumulated debt from different agencies such as the purchaser of the debt, the Department, the Student Loans Company and, indeed, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. I should welcome the Minister's comments on how it can be made clear to borrowers what has happened to their loans on graduation.