ONS Decisions: Student Loans

Debate between Kevin Foster and Elizabeth Truss

Tuesday 18th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I have been extremely clear that this is fundamentally an accounting decision. It is not about the reality of the fact that Government debt is being brought back over time, one of our key fiscal targets. The amount the ONS is estimating is, in fact, under our other fiscal target for the deficit. We will do the right thing by students in the Augar review.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

Will the Chief Secretary confirm that the ONS decision is based on the fact that these are not loans in the normal sense—an amount people must pay back—but a contribution towards the cost of their education, with the maximum they are required to pay back being based on their income?

[Elizabeth Truss]

My hon. Friend is correct. It is a generous system that does support students, particularly those on a low income, but we have instituted the Augar review to look at how the system could be made even better.

Public Sector Pay

Debate between Kevin Foster and Elizabeth Truss

Tuesday 24th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

It is very important that we focus the pay rises on the lowest-earning teachers, which I think would be supported across the education system. Where there are specific shortages in education or in schools, there is of course the flexibility to increase pay, and I know that that happens for a number of headteachers.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

I welcome the news of the 3.5% pay rise for lower-paid teachers in Torbay. Will the Chief Secretary commit to work with the DFE to publish how the funding will be broken down by local authority so that we can clearly see how this is being funded?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. How the additional funding will be allocated will certainly be announced in due course by my right hon. Friend the Education Secretary. I welcome my hon. Friend’s welcoming of the good news, unlike Labour Members, who are still looking extremely gloomy.

Public Sector Pay Cap

Debate between Kevin Foster and Elizabeth Truss

Wednesday 5th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

As I have said before, there is the 1%, but there is also incremental pay in many public service professions. There is the 2.4% for the armed forces, and there is the 3.3% that was received by teachers in 2015-16. Labour Members should tell people about the whole picture, rather than cherry-picking specific numbers.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

I am sure the Chief Secretary agrees with me—and with the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell)—that public sector workers are taxpayers. When it comes to public sector pay, we should indeed look at the whole picture, including the major tax cuts that have been made since 2010 for those on the lowest wages.

[Elizabeth Truss]

Absolutely. It seems to me that Labour Members want to count some things in their sums but not others, and that they are picking numbers rather than looking at the big picture.

Prison Officers Association: Protest Action

Debate between Kevin Foster and Elizabeth Truss

Tuesday 15th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

We are absolutely willing to consider those people returning to the service. We want to recruit high-quality officers.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

The Justice Secretary says that she wishes to recruit high-quality officers. Does she agree that veterans of our armed forces have exactly the type of skills needed to deal with challenging situations in our prisons? Will she update me on what is being done to ensure that they are recruited into the Prison Service?

[Elizabeth Truss]

We have a specific programme to recruit former armed service personnel who are highly suitable to working in the Prison Service as they bring with them values of discipline and hard work, which are so important in turning the lives of offenders around.