Student Tuition Fees and Maintenance Loans

Lord Christopher Excerpts

Tuesday 18th December 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bates]

The review will continue. Its terms of reference were set out by the Prime Minister in February, and they remain that inquiry’s terms of reference. To that extent, this is a separate issue. These factors might be taken into consideration in the wider debate on the shape of post-18 education. It is perfectly possible to do that.

[Lord Christopher (Lab)]

My Lords, where loans are bundled and sold off, does that exclude the possibility of any of them being written off?

[Lord Bates]

It does not make any change to the programme of student loan sales, which will continue as has been set out in the Budget.

[Lord Christopher]

My Lords, I do not understand that. The loans are sold off and the buyer expects to make a profit. He is not going to make a profit if he then finds that some of the assets are now withdrawn.

[Lord Bates]

Perhaps I misunderstood the question—I do apologise. I thought the noble Lord had asked what the effect was on the programme of sales of student loans—to which the answer is that there is no change. He is asking a different question: what about loans that have already been sold and will there be an effect? Of course, for those loans the value of the assets will be a matter for the institutions and organisations that have purchased the loans to account for in the correct way on their balance sheets. If that is still not the correct answer, I will be very happy to meet the noble Lord and write to him to clarify.