Student Loans

Matt Rodda Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare). Like him I am a father—I have two children who have graduated recently. I also worked in higher education for a time.

I speak in support of the amendment in the name of the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State. I will discuss three aspects of this important issue: first and foremost, the legacy left by the last Government, which we heard a little bit about earlier; secondly, the measures that are being taken by the current Government to address that; and thirdly, what more might be done to help.

Turning to the legacy of the last Government, we should be quite simple and straightforward about this: the last Government left a terrible mess in higher education. Today, the Conservative party is trying to quite simply rewrite history when it comes to student loans. It was the last Government, supported by the Liberal Democrats, who designed the plan 2 student loans, and the last Government who froze the thresholds for 10 years. They are now the ones complaining about the very system that they devised, when actually, they should be apologising for the mess they left behind. Sadly, we face the ridiculous situation where they are campaigning to resolve the very problem that they created. It is all a little bit rich.

In contrast, the current Government are trying to clear up that mess and to build a better future for young people. I thank the Secretary of State and the Minister for their work to invest in children and young people, whether by investing in Best Start, with four new centres in Reading and many more across the country, or in our schools. It was a pleasure to welcome the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister to a breakfast club recently. We are also investing in school buildings and teachers’ pay, which I remind Opposition Members is an important area of policy, given the mess they left teacher recruitment and retention in when they left office. The Government are also updating the school curriculum and consulting on modernising special educational needs and disabilities provision. These are all important steps forward and examples of real investment in children and young people.

As part of that, I know that the Minister and her colleagues are trying to address some of the issues around student finance, and I welcome the reintroduction of maintenance loans in particular. There have been some thoughtful comments about their power and importance to many people of lower means in encouraging them to get on with studying at university.

The Government are doing wider work to tackle the cost of living, and it is important to see the support for maintenance loans in that context. The freeze on rail fares will help students and young people, as will the move to cut energy prices. We have also heard about the work to support renters. Indeed, the work to build more houses will help young people buy their own homes. The Government are helping our young people in many ways. There remains more to be done, as has been said, and I ask the Minister to continue to look into the effects of the plan 2 scheme. Given my area is in the south-east of England, I would like to highlight the challenges faced by young people living in higher-cost areas.

I know that the Minister cares deeply about this issue, and it was a great pleasure to have her in Reading recently talking to families about special educational needs. She does care and she is looking into this issue, so I hope that we will hear more about it. We have had a terrible inheritance, but action has been taken, and I look forward to hearing more.