Student Loans Company

Lord Maude of Horsham Excerpts

Tuesday 21st November 2017 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

First, the performance of the Student Loans Company has improved year on year for the past six years. I cannot go into the precise details of Steve Lamey’s dismissal; I can only say that his behaviour as a leader and a manager fell below that expected of the position that he held.

[Lord Maude of Horsham (Con)]

My Lords, when an experienced and robust operational leader is brought in to turn round what had been known to be a failing organisation, is told consistently that he is doing an excellent job and is then summarily dismissed, principally on the basis of allegations put forward by staff who had themselves been given poor performance ratings, what does my noble friend think is the prospect of attracting to the Civil Service other experienced, serious and badly needed operational leaders?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

With reference to Mr Lamey’s dismissal, there was a thorough process of looking at the details of the allegations. In fact, there were two internal inquiries, one run by the Government Internal Audit Agency and the other by Sir Paul Jenkins. They both concluded that there were allegations that needed answering. In terms of the future, it is very important that the process to replace Mr Lamey as soon as possible is robust. We are delighted that Peter Lauener has agreed to take over as the interim CEO. However, the future process must be robust and we must make the right appointment.