Student Loan Book: Sale

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Tom Pursglove

Thursday 11th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gyimah]

The repayments are collected through the tax system, and that does not change at all. All that changes is that the benefits of the future income stream now accrue to someone else. That is done not only by Governments around the world, but by businesses. It is a simple fact that if we can capture the value of an uncertain income stream today at a reasonable price, it makes sense to do so.

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

Have lessons from previous loan book sales informed the decision making on this tranche?

[Mr Gyimah]

I caught just the tail end of that question. If I understood it correctly, my hon. Friend was asking about the process and the decision making in the past. We have been dealing with this for two decades in this place; under the last Labour Government there were mortgage-style loans, where loans were sold to private investors, who could contact students directly and chase them for the money. That has now changed under this system.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Tom Pursglove

Monday 10th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gyimah]

New guidance on clarifying all the rules around free speech will be published this autumn.

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

15. What recent steps he has taken to help improve the quality of childcare provision.

Space Policy

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Tom Pursglove

Wednesday 18th July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gyimah]

I have been speaking to lots of companies in the UK that deal in the satellite market. It is a global market, and there are huge global opportunities, including in the EU. The sector will continue to succeed, even when we leave the EU.

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

What benefit does my hon. Friend believe this sector will bring to the UK economy in the decades ahead? Does he believe that there will be direct benefits for our existing industrial supply chains, such as the steel industry?

[Mr Gyimah]

The space sector, in addition to being part of our critical national infrastructure, underpins our value in the economy to the tune of £250 billion. This is not just about pushing the frontiers of human knowledge; it is also about creating jobs and helping to power our economy forward. That is why this investment announcement is so important.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Tom Pursglove

Tuesday 25th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

Exclusion zones are an important tool to protect victims, but for those living on a county boundary, an exclusion zone that just covers the county is not particularly helpful. Will the Minister undertake to look into that?

[Mr Gyimah]

My hon. Friend does great work on behalf of victims in his constituency. He raises an important point about the way in which exclusion zones, which are there to protect victims, are designed and operated. I am sure that that is something we will look at in great detail.

Prison Officers Association: Withdrawal from Voluntary Tasks

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Tom Pursglove

Tuesday 28th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gyimah]

We are already doing that; we are recognising that difficulty. As I have said, pay packets will go up to about £30,000 as a result of the measures we have introduced in the past week. The independent pay review body will report in April, after which we will take further action.

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

The Government’s commitment to opening new prison places in fit-for-purpose buildings, including in north Northamptonshire, is very welcome news. What impact does the Minister think that that will have on prison officer safety?

[Mr Gyimah]

Modern, fit-for-purpose prisons will have a huge impact on prison officer safety, not least because they will not have all those corners where people can hide. They will also be good for rehabilitation. Today we have opened Her Majesty’s Prison Berwyn, which is the largest prison in Europe and is taking its first prisoners today. That is a huge step in our efforts not only to reorganise the estate, reduce overcrowding and improve safety in our prisons, but to ensure that they can be places of rehabilitation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sam Gyimah and Tom Pursglove

Tuesday 6th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[David Mackintosh (Northampton South) (Con)]

11. What steps the Government are taking to ensure that offenders find employment on release.

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

16. What progress her Department is making on ensuring that offenders find employment on release.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Sam Gyimah)]

Most offenders arrive in prison with very low levels of educational attainment, very high levels of substance misuse and a very poor employment history. I believe that the purpose of modern prisons is to keep the public safe and to tackle each of those issues, so that prisoners have the foundations to secure and hold down a job on release.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Gyimah]

I agree with my hon. Friend that if “through the gate services”, as we call them, are to work and to stop reoffending, national insurance numbers, bank accounts and so forth need to be in place. There is a series of programmes in place to tackle this problem, including an offender banking programme, which opens about 5,000 new bank accounts every year.

[Tom Pursglove]

The Minister has rightly identified the fact that research shows that employment after custody greatly reduces the chances of reoffending, so what work is his Department doing with the Department for Work and Pensions to make sure that offenders not only find work after they leave prison, but stay in work?

[Mr Gyimah]

As my hon. Friend has rightly identified, tackling the challenge—and it is a challenge—of getting prisoners work when they leave requires a concerted effort across government and locally across the community. Every prisoner has the opportunity to meet a DWP work coach before release, and the work coach’s role is to guide them towards employment. Work coaches can also ensure that prisoners know their national insurance numbers and get the other services they need to be able to make an appropriate transition into the community.