Barry Sheerman
Main Page: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)Department Debates - View all Barry Sheerman's debates with the HM Treasury
(12 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
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I would not agree with the hon. Gentleman that such arrangements should be put in place for every public sector employee. The review that I have put in place is precisely designed to root out such arrangements across Government.
In answer to the earlier point, I gather that the fees that the hon. Member for Rochdale (Simon Danczuk) asked about are set out in the Student Loans Company annual report, which is available publicly, so he may wish to avail himself of a copy.
We all know, if we are honest, that the administration of student loans had been a mess for years. However, the fact is that this man was appointed on a higher package of emoluments than the Prime Minister. Why was that?
What we had was a situation where, as the hon. Gentleman rightly says, for many years—including for many years under the previous Government —the Student Loans Company was in a mess. This man was brought in to run it, and in fairness I think it is widely agreed that he has done a good job of turning it around. In the context of this conversation, I hope that the hon. Gentleman would also recognise that.