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1130592

registered interest
date	06/06/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Loans
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of a reduction in tuition fees in England to £7,500 per year on the lifetime student loan repayments of graduates.
tabling member printed	Lord Bassam of Brighton
uin	HL16136
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2019 answer text <p>The independent panel’s report to the government is an important step in the review of Post-18 Education and Funding. The government will carefully consider the panel’s recommendations and will conclude the review at the Spending Review. The government has not yet taken decisions regarding the recommendations put forward.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 19/06/2019 15:54:16 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	3504 label Biography information for Lord Bassam of Brighton

1124630

registered interest
date	02/05/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Loans
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) what is the current policy of the Student Loans Company on the surveillance of students’ social media; (2) whether any such policy is publicly available; (3) which social media platforms may fall under this policy; and (4) what measures are in place to oversee this policy.
tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
uin	HL15498
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>The Student Loans Company (SLC) carries out investigations where fraud is suspected, as well as sample checks to identify possible fraud. The SLC accesses a wide range of publicly available information for the purposes of verifying a customer’s eligibility and detecting and preventing fraud, and this may include publicly available social media content. The SLC only accesses information that is in the public domain; it does not use information sourced from social media in isolation to make a determination on a case; and it does not conduct ongoing monitoring or surveillance of students’ social media.</p><p> </p><p>The SLC provides a privacy notice to all students during their application for finance, which is also available on the SLC’s website. This notice sets out how students’ personal information is processed and used by the company, including that both the information provided by the student during their application and publicly available information, such as that on social media and other public platforms, may be used to detect, investigate and prevent crime including fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The SLC is also in the final stages of drafting a social media acceptable use policy, which covers all aspects of the company’s social media use. This policy is due to be published on the SLC’s website next month.</p><p> </p><p>The policy covers any publicly available social media platform. Currently, the SLC accesses publicly available content on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.</p><p> </p><p>The policy will be reviewed at least annually or more often if business requirements, legislation, or regulations change.</p><p> </p><p>In 2018-19, the SLC investigated 3,829 cases in relation to potential application fraud (out of a total of 2.8 million applicants and students). A further 5,289 cases were investigated in relation to repayment evasion (out of a total 5.7 million repayers). As part of the process for both preventing application fraud and eliminating repayment evasion, investigators may review publicly available information, such as that on social media and other public platforms. This does not occur in every investigation.</p><p> </p><p>To date in financial year (FY) 2019-20, and in FY 2018-19, no individuals received compensation or redress from the SLC as a result of wrongful decisions by the SLC's Counter Fraud Team. In FY 2017-18, one individual received an ex-gratia payment of £100.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL15499 HL15500 question first answered 13/05/2019 16:50:45 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

1124631

registered interest
date	02/05/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Loans
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals' social media accounts the Student Loans Company has surveilled as part of its approach to combatting fraud.
tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
uin	HL15499
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>The Student Loans Company (SLC) carries out investigations where fraud is suspected, as well as sample checks to identify possible fraud. The SLC accesses a wide range of publicly available information for the purposes of verifying a customer’s eligibility and detecting and preventing fraud, and this may include publicly available social media content. The SLC only accesses information that is in the public domain; it does not use information sourced from social media in isolation to make a determination on a case; and it does not conduct ongoing monitoring or surveillance of students’ social media.</p><p> </p><p>The SLC provides a privacy notice to all students during their application for finance, which is also available on the SLC’s website. This notice sets out how students’ personal information is processed and used by the company, including that both the information provided by the student during their application and publicly available information, such as that on social media and other public platforms, may be used to detect, investigate and prevent crime including fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The SLC is also in the final stages of drafting a social media acceptable use policy, which covers all aspects of the company’s social media use. This policy is due to be published on the SLC’s website next month.</p><p> </p><p>The policy covers any publicly available social media platform. Currently, the SLC accesses publicly available content on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.</p><p> </p><p>The policy will be reviewed at least annually or more often if business requirements, legislation, or regulations change.</p><p> </p><p>In 2018-19, the SLC investigated 3,829 cases in relation to potential application fraud (out of a total of 2.8 million applicants and students). A further 5,289 cases were investigated in relation to repayment evasion (out of a total 5.7 million repayers). As part of the process for both preventing application fraud and eliminating repayment evasion, investigators may review publicly available information, such as that on social media and other public platforms. This does not occur in every investigation.</p><p> </p><p>To date in financial year (FY) 2019-20, and in FY 2018-19, no individuals received compensation or redress from the SLC as a result of wrongful decisions by the SLC's Counter Fraud Team. In FY 2017-18, one individual received an ex-gratia payment of £100.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL15498 HL15500 question first answered 13/05/2019 16:50:45 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

1124632

registered interest
date	02/05/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Loans
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals have received compensation or redress from the Student Loans Company as a result of wrongful decisions under its approach to combatting fraud.
tabling member printed	Baroness Garden of Frognal
uin	HL15500
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2019 answer text <p>The Student Loans Company (SLC) carries out investigations where fraud is suspected, as well as sample checks to identify possible fraud. The SLC accesses a wide range of publicly available information for the purposes of verifying a customer’s eligibility and detecting and preventing fraud, and this may include publicly available social media content. The SLC only accesses information that is in the public domain; it does not use information sourced from social media in isolation to make a determination on a case; and it does not conduct ongoing monitoring or surveillance of students’ social media.</p><p> </p><p>The SLC provides a privacy notice to all students during their application for finance, which is also available on the SLC’s website. This notice sets out how students’ personal information is processed and used by the company, including that both the information provided by the student during their application and publicly available information, such as that on social media and other public platforms, may be used to detect, investigate and prevent crime including fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The SLC is also in the final stages of drafting a social media acceptable use policy, which covers all aspects of the company’s social media use. This policy is due to be published on the SLC’s website next month.</p><p> </p><p>The policy covers any publicly available social media platform. Currently, the SLC accesses publicly available content on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.</p><p> </p><p>The policy will be reviewed at least annually or more often if business requirements, legislation, or regulations change.</p><p> </p><p>In 2018-19, the SLC investigated 3,829 cases in relation to potential application fraud (out of a total of 2.8 million applicants and students). A further 5,289 cases were investigated in relation to repayment evasion (out of a total 5.7 million repayers). As part of the process for both preventing application fraud and eliminating repayment evasion, investigators may review publicly available information, such as that on social media and other public platforms. This does not occur in every investigation.</p><p> </p><p>To date in financial year (FY) 2019-20, and in FY 2018-19, no individuals received compensation or redress from the SLC as a result of wrongful decisions by the SLC's Counter Fraud Team. In FY 2017-18, one individual received an ex-gratia payment of £100.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL15498 HL15499 question first answered 13/05/2019 16:50:45 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	3842 label Biography information for Baroness Garden of Frognal

1110678

registered interest
date	09/04/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Loans
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the rates of interest charged on student loans to ensure they properly reflect the Bank of England interest rate.
tabling member printed	Baroness Brady
uin	HL15142
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2019 answer text <p>The system for setting interest rates on student loans is set out in The Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations 2009, as amended. The Department for Education sets the interest rate as instructed by the regulations.</p><p> </p><p>For post-2012 student loans, the department regularly monitors the interest rates set on student loans against the interest rates prevailing on the market. The most appropriate comparators for undergraduate student loans are the effective interest rates available on unsecured personal loans, as published by the Bank of England (data series CFMBJ77 and CFMBJ94). Both rates continue to be above the maximum interest rate charged on student loans.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 25/04/2019 14:52:48 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4339 label Biography information for Baroness Brady

1105826

registered interest
date	28/03/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Loans
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether university income from student tuition fee loans is classed as public or private funds; what legal advice, if any, they have received to this effect; and whether they will publish any such advice.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL14912
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/04/2019 answer text <p>The government pays universities directly in respect of the tuition fee loans which are approved for eligible students each year. Students are then legally obliged to repay any tuition fee loans in accordance with the contract they sign when taking out the loan. The Office for National Statistics classifies the money provided by the government to cover tuition fees as a debt for the purposes of the public finances. The government does not ordinarily disclose its legal advice as that is protected by legal professional privilege.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 05/04/2019 12:00:21 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

968822

registered interest
date	05/09/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Loans
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to provide assistance to students paying over six per cent in interest on their tuition fees and maintenance loans.
tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
uin	HL10106
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/09/2018 answer text <p>The system of variable interest rates based on income is progressive, and ensures that higher earners make a fair contribution to the sustainability of the higher education system.</p><p> </p><p>Student loan interest rates vary with income. Only borrowers earning over £45,000 and those in study pay the maximum interest rate of 6.3% and many will be charged less than this. The system of variable interest rates help ensure that the highest earners make a higher total contribution than those on lower incomes.</p><p> </p><p>Reducing interest rates would benefit high earners only. That is why the government has increased the repayment threshold from tax year 2018-19 and will increase the repayment threshold again in April 2019, reducing monthly repayments for all borrowers earning above £25,000.</p><p> </p><p>We believe that it is right that students should contribute to the cost of their higher education and that this contribution should be linked to their income. This means that those who have benefited the most from their education repay their fair share.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 13/09/2018 14:38:53 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

940093

registered interest
date	12/07/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Loans
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what the Student Loans Company pays for capital to lend to students; and how any profits it makes are used.
tabling member printed	Lord Morris of Aberavon
uin	HL9508
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2018 answer text <p>The Student Loans Company (SLC) administers student loans on behalf of the UK government and devolved administrations with funding from Her Majesty’s Treasury. While the SLC itself pays nothing on this funding, the cost to the government of this capital is the same as that paid on its general borrowing.</p><p> </p><p>The amounts paid out and the interest charged can be found in the published document titled ‘DfE consolidated annual report and accounts 2016-17’ on pages 152 to 158, attached.</p><p> </p><p>The government does not make a profit on these loans, which is reflected through the impairment charge in note 14.3.3 on page 155 of the attachment. This shows the proportion of the loan outlay and interest that the department expects not to recover. Student loans are subsidised by the government as a deliberate investment in the skills base of the country, which delivers benefits for individual students and for society at large.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 20/07/2018 13:56:50 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie attachment 1 file name HL9508 - DfE_Consolidated_annual_report_and_accounts_2016-17_print (1).pdf title HL9508_acceptances_by_STEM_subject
tabling member	565 label Biography information for Lord Morris of Aberavon

926469

registered interest
date	18/06/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Loans
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government which investors purchased student loans sold by the Government as part of the £1.7 billion sale of Pre-2012 (Plan 1) Income Contingent Student Loans in December 2017.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL8724
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2018 answer text <p>The sale from the pre-2012 (plan 1) English student loan book, which was completed in December 2017, took place by means of a securitisation. This involved transferring the loan pool to a new independent English-domiciled company (“the Issuer”). This company is registered as ‘Income Contingent Student Loans 1 (2002-2006) Plc’. In turn the Issuer has issued to investors securities in the form of notes representing the rights to the remaining future repayments.</p><p> </p><p>The individual names of investors are commercially sensitive and are not publicly available.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 27/06/2018 14:58:33 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn

923007

registered interest
date	12/06/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Loans
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what was (1) the indicative budget allocation, and (2) the actual level of borrowing, for part-time higher education fee loans in England in (a) 2016–17, and (b) 2017–18.
tabling member printed	Lord Smith of Clifton
uin	HL8580
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2018 answer text <p>The Student Loans Company publishes statistics on student loan expenditure by financial year as part of an annual national statistic ‘The Student Loans Company: Student Loans in England’. These statistics are available in the tables at:</p><p><a href="https://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/england.aspx" target="_blank">https://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/england.aspx</a>.[1]</p><p>In the financial years 2016-17 and 2017-18, £237.6 million and £246 million respectively were paid in part-time tuition fee loans in England.</p><p> </p><p>There is no separate budget for part-time loans in the department. The budget for student loans for all types of study is included within the Departmental Supplementary Estimates. For financial year 2016-17 see the attachment entitled “Part II: Changes Proposed”, also available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supplementary-estimates-2016-17" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supplementary-estimates-2016-17</a>, (page 185). For 2017-18 see attachment entitled “Part II: Revised subhead detail including additional provision”, also available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supplementary-estimates-2017-18" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supplementary-estimates-2017-18</a>, (page 196).</p><p> </p><p>[1] It is not possible to attach this information as it is part of a lengthy, complex and detailed data set.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie attachment 1 file name Page_185_16-17 _''Part_II_Changes_Proposed''.pdf title Page_185_16-17 _''Part_II_Changes_Proposed'' 2 file name Page _196_2017_18_''Part_II_Revised_Subhead_Detail''.pdf title Page _196_2017_18_Part_II_Revised_Subhead_Detail question first answered 26/06/2018 16:32:53 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	3144 label Biography information for Lord Smith of Clifton