Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of accrued interest on student loans on the ability of women to pay off student loan debts.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Government wants a sustainable student finance system that is fair to students and taxpayers, and which continues to enable anyone with the ability and the ambition to benefit from higher education to do so. The student finance system will continue to protect borrowers, including women on maternity leave, or any person on any form of parental leave, if they see a reduction in their income. Student loan repayments are made based on a borrower’s monthly or weekly income, not the interest rate or amount borrowed, and no repayments are made for earnings below the relevant repayment threshold.
The recent student loan, Plan 5 reforms, will make the student loan system fairer for taxpayers and fairer for students, helping to keep the system sustainable in the long term. The new loan plan asks graduates to repay for longer and from an income threshold of £25,000 per year, but also increases certainty for borrowers by reducing interest rates to match inflation only. This change ensures that borrowers on the new Plan 5 terms will not repay, under those terms, more than they originally borrowed over the lifetime of their loans, when adjusted for inflation.
Lower earners will still be protected. If a borrower’s income is below the repayment threshold of, currently, £25,000 per year, they won’t be required to make any repayments at all. Any outstanding debt, including interest accrued, is written off at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower. No commercial loans offer this level of borrower protection.
A comprehensive equality impact assessment of how the student loan reforms may affect graduates, including detail on changes to average lifetime repayments under Plan 5, was produced and published in February 2022. More information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reform-equality-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure there is no adverse financial impact on women of student loan interest accrued while they are on maternity leave.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Government wants a sustainable student finance system that is fair to students and taxpayers, and which continues to enable anyone with the ability and the ambition to benefit from higher education to do so. The student finance system will continue to protect borrowers, including women on maternity leave, or any person on any form of parental leave, if they see a reduction in their income. Student loan repayments are made based on a borrower’s monthly or weekly income, not the interest rate or amount borrowed, and no repayments are made for earnings below the relevant repayment threshold.
The recent student loan, Plan 5 reforms, will make the student loan system fairer for taxpayers and fairer for students, helping to keep the system sustainable in the long term. The new loan plan asks graduates to repay for longer and from an income threshold of £25,000 per year, but also increases certainty for borrowers by reducing interest rates to match inflation only. This change ensures that borrowers on the new Plan 5 terms will not repay, under those terms, more than they originally borrowed over the lifetime of their loans, when adjusted for inflation.
Lower earners will still be protected. If a borrower’s income is below the repayment threshold of, currently, £25,000 per year, they won’t be required to make any repayments at all. Any outstanding debt, including interest accrued, is written off at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower. No commercial loans offer this level of borrower protection.
A comprehensive equality impact assessment of how the student loan reforms may affect graduates, including detail on changes to average lifetime repayments under Plan 5, was produced and published in February 2022. More information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reform-equality-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with relevant industry stakeholders on the progress towards switching off the public switched telephone network by 2025.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Department engages regularly with relevant stakeholders to ensure there are adequate plans in place to inform consumers and protect the most vulnerable consumers. This includes, but is not limited to, quarterly progress meetings with individual providers, quarterly meetings with Communications Providers and all government departments, and quarterly meetings with Ofcom. The Minister for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure also convened a roundtable with the largest providers in January 2023.
Ofcom, the UK’s telecommunications regulator, is also monitoring the progress of Communications Providers. Ofcom is responsible for ensuring telecoms providers adhere to their regulatory obligations throughout the migration process.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of migrating households from the public switched telephone network to the Digital Voice service.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Ofcom is responsible for ensuring telecoms providers adhere to their regulatory obligations throughout the migration process. Ofcom has published guidance which states that providers must take steps to identify and protect at-risk consumers who are dependent on their landline. Providers have a range of solutions to ensure vulnerable consumers receive additional support. These options include, among others, free battery back-up units to engineer supported installations or hybrid landline phones. The Government is working together with Ofcom to ensure customers receive appropriate levels of communication and vulnerable consumers are protected.
Furthermore, the Department meets regularly with Communications Providers to discuss the progress made in migrating their customers, and to ensure they have adequate plans in place to inform and protect vulnerable consumers.
While the PSTN migration is an industry-led process, industry is accountable to Ofcom in ensuring the security of any new technologies used in their network.
The Government is committed to ensuring the security and resilience of the UK’s telecommunications networks and services. Since October 2022, public telecommunications providers have been required under the Communications Act 2003 (as amended by the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021) to identify and reduce the risk of a wide range of security compromises. The specific requirements providers must follow are set out in the Electronic Communications (Security Measures) Regulations 2022, with accompany technical guidance in a code of practice. Ofcom has also been given powers and duties to investigate, rectify, and penalise any infringement of the statutory security and resilience obligations of network providers.
DSIT also works closely with the National Cyber Security Centre, the UK’s technical authority for cyber security, on issues related to the cyber security of the UK's telecoms network. The NCSC is responsible for helping to protect the UK’s critical services from cyber attacks, manage major incidents, and improve the underlying security of the UK's telecoms networks through technological improvement and advice to citizens and organisations. The NCSC issues a range of guidance on its website to support organisations in ensuring secure design and management of their networks.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Innovation, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of a cyber attack on the rollout of the Digital Voice services.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Ofcom is responsible for ensuring telecoms providers adhere to their regulatory obligations throughout the migration process. Ofcom has published guidance which states that providers must take steps to identify and protect at-risk consumers who are dependent on their landline. Providers have a range of solutions to ensure vulnerable consumers receive additional support. These options include, among others, free battery back-up units to engineer supported installations or hybrid landline phones. The Government is working together with Ofcom to ensure customers receive appropriate levels of communication and vulnerable consumers are protected.
Furthermore, the Department meets regularly with Communications Providers to discuss the progress made in migrating their customers, and to ensure they have adequate plans in place to inform and protect vulnerable consumers.
While the PSTN migration is an industry-led process, industry is accountable to Ofcom in ensuring the security of any new technologies used in their network.
The Government is committed to ensuring the security and resilience of the UK’s telecommunications networks and services. Since October 2022, public telecommunications providers have been required under the Communications Act 2003 (as amended by the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021) to identify and reduce the risk of a wide range of security compromises. The specific requirements providers must follow are set out in the Electronic Communications (Security Measures) Regulations 2022, with accompany technical guidance in a code of practice. Ofcom has also been given powers and duties to investigate, rectify, and penalise any infringement of the statutory security and resilience obligations of network providers.
DSIT also works closely with the National Cyber Security Centre, the UK’s technical authority for cyber security, on issues related to the cyber security of the UK's telecoms network. The NCSC is responsible for helping to protect the UK’s critical services from cyber attacks, manage major incidents, and improve the underlying security of the UK's telecoms networks through technological improvement and advice to citizens and organisations. The NCSC issues a range of guidance on its website to support organisations in ensuring secure design and management of their networks.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate she has made of the number and proportion of the public switched telephone network that has been retired as of August 2023.
Answered by John Whittingdale
According to Ofcom’s latest figures, as of August 2023, more than 50% of the UK’s 30 million premises have been moved from the PSTN. The premises that are no longer on the PSTN have moved to various technological options, including 8 million (27%) that have moved to a broadband based Digital Voice solution.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many and what proportion of households have been switched to the Digital Voice service as of August 2023.
Answered by John Whittingdale
According to Ofcom’s latest figures, as of August 2023, more than 50% of the UK’s 30 million premises have been moved from the PSTN. The premises that are no longer on the PSTN have moved to various technological options, including 8 million (27%) that have moved to a broadband based Digital Voice solution.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the migration of households from the public switched telephone network to the Digital Voice service on the functionality of free-to-use cash machines.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The finance sector, including ATM providers are well-prepared for the switch over from the public switched telephone network to voice over internet (VoIP) in 2025.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the value is of land (a) given and (b) sold by the Government to Thames Water since 2010.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The available records show that the Department has neither gifted nor sold any land to Thames Water since 2010.
Our principal non-departmental public body, the Environment Agency, has a closer working relationship with Water Companies. The relationship arises under the Water Industries Act 1989. The Agency has confirmed that since 2010 it has completed two transactions involving the transfer of infrastructure land to Thames Water listed:
a) Land given
A zero-sum transfer of an observation borehole site located on High Street, Meysey Hampton, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 5JP on 31/07/2015. This borehole site (located at a Thames Water pumping station complex) was incorrectly registered to the National Rivers Authority (as was) in 1989, and ownership was subsequently transferred to Thames Water in 2015.
b) Land sold
Disposal of a pumping station site adjacent to 21 Esher Road, East Molesey, Surrey, KT8 0AH on 04/09/2013 for £100.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much money his Department spent on Clear Springs in each year since 2015.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Our accommodation providers are contractually obliged to provide adequate accommodation and to conduct regular quality assurance checks across the asylum estate. Accommodation providers complete due diligence checks and all accommodation must be statutorily and regulatory compliant before they are selected.