Lord Phillips of Sudbury
Main Page: Lord Phillips of Sudbury (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Ultimately, responsibility lies with the relevant Minister. The decision in 2005 was made by the board of the Student Loans Company, BIS and the Minister responsible for the area at that time. It is right that Ministers should ultimately be responsible for all government agencies in the departments in which they lie.
Lord Phillips of Sudbury (LD)
My Lords, does my noble friend not see that to have talks with the Student Loans Company is simply not enough? This is straightforward deceit. If any student were engaged in deceit of this nature he or she would be thrown out of their university or denied a job prospect. Surely we must start to set an example. At least the chair of the Student Loans Company should resign from his or her position. Without some exemplary conduct, the standards in this country, which are already declining, will, frankly, decline more and more.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
I agree totally with my noble friend’s sentiments. It is right that those who are held accountable for this should take responsibility as well. The highest standards should be set, and Governments and government agencies should be setting those standards. As I said, this was brought to the attention of BIS, of the Minister, on 27 June. Subsequently, all further letters have ceased going out. We are looking at what other action needs to be taken. As I said, we shall look at what comes out of the Secretary of State’s meeting; I do not want to pre-empt anything in that regard. One thing is very clear, however: this practice was wrong. The Government agree with that sentiment and the practice has now stopped.