Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, at the planned timescale is for agreeing an aerospace sector deal; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
We announced at Farnborough Airshow that Government would enter in to negotiations with the UK’s Aerospace Sector to agree a Sector Deal. Recognising that Aerospace is a leading sector in the UK, Ministers and Officials have been in negotiations with the sector since that time. We expect an ambitious Sector Deal to be agreed with industry in due course.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the space industry on future development; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
I met with the Chair of the Space Sector Council in October to discuss future developments for the sector and we plan to meet again early in January. The Space sector published its ambitious ‘Prosperity from Space’ blueprint for accelerating innovation and growth in May, setting out how it would create 30,000 new high skill jobs across the UK.
We continue to provide strong support to the space sector with recent funding of £50 million to kick-start small satellite launch and sub-orbital flight from UK spaceports, £99 million for the National Satellite Test Facility in Harwell and £92 million to design a national alternative to the EU’s Galileo satellite system.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the dates were on which the Coal Forum met in each of the last three years; and when he plans to call a further meeting of that forum.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Coal Forum was set up following the 2006 Energy Review in order to bring together Government and the coal industry to work to “secure the long-term future of coal-fired power generation and UK coal production”. The Forum most recently met on 10th February 2016, 3rd February 2015 and 27th January 2014. Members of the Coal Forum have met officials within the Department more regularly.
I have this week written to the Independent Chair of the Forum to set out my view that it has now served its purpose and should formally be wound down. Officials and I will of course continue to engage with representatives from the industry as and when appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will assess the balance of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme surplus-sharing arrangements.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The presence of the guarantee has enabled the scheme trustees to invest so as to target surpluses; this has resulted in a 30% increase in payments to members. For this reason, we believe the existing arrangements work well and are fair to all parties.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the average effect on graduates (a) student loan repayments and (b) student loan balance of the changes to the loan repayment threshold announced in the 2015 Autumn Statement.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Department published an Equality Analysis in November 2015. Examples showing the impact for different levels of income can be found in Table 4, page 35 of this document:
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress his Department has made on plans to sell off student loans; and what recent estimate he has made of the amount of revenue expected to be raised by that sell off.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
As stated in the March 2016 Budget, the Government is continuing to prepare for the sale of the pre-2012 income contingent repayment (ICR) student loan book, with a first sale expected in 2016-17.
The March 2016 Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) Forecast estimated £2.4bn of sale proceeds in 2016-17 - this is an average based on Government’s central estimate of £12bn proceeds from a series of sales over a 5-year period up until 2020-21.
A sale would not impact borrowers. Government would still finance student loans and continue to collect repayments through Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Student Loans Company (SLC). Purchasers would have no direct relationship with borrowers, and would have no power to amend the terms of repayment.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department has taken to inform students with existing student loans of the (a) changes announced to the loan repayment threshold in the 2015 Autumn Statement and (b) effect of those changes on their student loan balance and repayments.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Government announced the decision to freeze the repayment threshold as part of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement on 25th November 2015. The Government response to the consultation and the equality analysis can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/freezing-the-student-loan-repayment-threshold
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the quality of information provided to potential students before they apply for a student loan; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Student Loans Company provides guidance material to help prospective students understand what financial support they may be eligible for, the interest rates and repayment terms. Information is available on the SLC website and through a range of other sources. All students taking out a loan must sign a declaration confirming they have read and understood the terms and conditions of the loan, before their loan is paid. The student’s guide to their terms and conditions clearly sets out, amongst other things, (a) the interest rates that the student will be charged, (b) when they will start repaying and (c) when interest starts accruing.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what interest has accrued on student loans taken out in each year since 2006.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Student Loans Company (SLC) administers student loans for each of the UK Government Administrations. Information on the interest added to Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) loans in England is available by financial year in Table 1 of SLC’s Statistical First Release (SFR) ‘Student Loans in England’.
The most recent version of the publication, covering the financial years 2012-13 to 2014-15 is available here:
http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/england.aspx.
Earlier editions are available here:
Information for individual entry cohorts could only be provided at disproportionate cost.