Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government why interest rates on student loans are set using the Retail Prices Index rather than the Consumer Prices Index.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Interest rates on student loans have been consistently linked to a widely recognised and adopted measure of inflation. Interest rates are set in legislation in reference to the Retail Price Index (RPI) from the previous March and are applied annually on 1 September until 31 August.
The Office for National Statistics has undertaken a substantial programme of work over the past two years to enhance how inflation is measured and this will be carried over into student loans. The Office for Budget Responsibility has confirmed that from 2030 at the earliest, movements in RPI will be aligned with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Further details are available at:
https://obr.uk/box/the-long-run-difference-between-rpi-and-cpi-inflation/.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is preventing the implementation of the recommendation set out in the Independent panel report to the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding, published on 30 May 2019, that no student should repay more than 1.2 times their initial loan in real terms.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Following the review on post-18 education and funding, Plan 5 terms and conditions were introduced for new students in England who started their studies from the academic year 2023/24.
Interest on Plan 5 student loans is charged at the Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation only (currently 3.2%), meaning graduates will not repay more than they borrow in real terms. As an additional borrower protection, interest rates are automatically capped by the prevailing market rate for comparable unsecured personal loans, ensuring borrowers are protected if market conditions change.
It is reasonable to ask those graduates who do benefit financially from higher education to contribute towards the cost of their studies. Borrowers earning below the repayment threshold of £25,000 per year are not required to repay anything. Any outstanding loan including interest built up is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report School Recovery Strategies: Year 1 findings, published on 11 January, when they plan to re-introduce sports and physical education at the daily recommended activity levels of at least 60 minutes.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The department’s COVID-19 guidance has supported schools to continue to provide physical education (PE), sport and physical activity through COVID-19 restrictions. Schools have the flexibility to decide how PE, sport and physical activity will be provided to pupils while following the measures in their system of controls.
It is this government’s ambition that 30 minutes of the 60 minutes of physical activity a day recommended by the Chief Medical Officers should be done at school. This can include all forms of activity such as PE, active travel, after-school activities, play and sports. The School Sport and Activity Action Plan, which aims to make sport and physical activity an integral part of both the school day and after-school activities, enabling all children have the opportunity to take part in at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day, will be updated this year. Primary schools have also continued to receive the £320 million PE and sport premium, supporting improvements in the quality of the PE, sport and physical activity which they offer.
In October 2021 the government also announced nearly £30 million a year will go towards improving the teaching of PE at primary school, as well as to improve and opening up school sport facilities in England.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the Professional and Career Development Loans scheme has not been re-opened for HGV drivers.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Commercial providers of Professional and Career Development Loans have withdrawn from the scheme over the last few years. The scheme ended for new lending when the contract between the government and The Co-operative Bank expired in early 2019.
The department is providing support for Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) driver training through other routes. We are investing up to £17 million to create new Skills Bootcamps to offer 5,000 training places in HGV driving to help tackle the current HGV driver shortage. The free, intensive courses will train drivers to be road ready and gain a category C or category C&E licence or additional qualifications, for example to haul fuel, as well as refresher courses to help drivers who have left the profession to return. An additional 1,000 people are expected to be trained through courses accessed locally and funded by the government’s adult education budget.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of Department for Education staff based in central London were working from their office desks on 2 September.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Staff in the department have been working remotely since the middle of March and have been focused on dealing with the challenges posed by COVID-19.
In recent months, the Department for Education has been working to ensure all our buildings are Covid-secure and putting in place plans to welcome staff safely back to the office.
Phase 1 saw a small number of volunteer staff return to the larger offices in August. Phase 2 started on 1 September, opening up to 20% capacity across our 7 largest offices. Phase 3 is being planned and will enable 30-40% of capacity to be opened up, including at the department’s smaller sites.
We continue to see an increase in number of staff returning and on Wednesday 2 September, a total of 4% of staff who are contracted as London based worked in Sanctuary Buildings, Westminster.
As of Wednesday 9 September, 5.5% of London based staff were working from Sanctuary Buildings, Westminster.