Student Loans - repayment holidays

Dear Department for Business, Innovation and Skills,

On 5th July 2007, the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) - the predecessor department to BIS - John Denham, announced that "...we also want to offer graduates more choice about the repayment of their loans. Students starting in 2008 will have that option once they complete their degree. When graduates face significant new out-goings in their lives, such as buying their first home or starting a family, they will have the option of taking a break from their loan repayments. They will be able to take a break of one year, two or more, for up to five years. That will help graduates make flexible choices about their finances at key points in their lives and careers." (https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?...)

This policy was detailed in the SLC Guide to Terms and Conditions 2008/09 (page 14) (http://www.dorsetforyou.com/media/pdf/f/...) and the SLC Guide to Terms and Conditions 2009/10 (page 14) (available to download from http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.u...) which borrowers must agree to when they sign loan declarations to take out income-contingent student loans. However it was never implemented into the Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations 2009 and therefore never formed part of the terms and conditions.

Please provide any policy submissions and analysis that was carried out in connection with the intended repayment holidays policy and details of when and why it was dropped before it came into force.

Yours faithfully,

Brian Harrison

correspondence@bis.ecase.gsi.gov.uk on behalf of FOI Requests,

BIS ref: FOI2016/16957

Dear Mr Harrison

Thank you for your request for information which was received on 13th
July. Your request has been passed on to the appropriate official at the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to deal with.

Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and we will reply at the latest by 10th August.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Information
Rights Unit at BIS. Please remember to quote the reference number above in
any future communications.

Kind regards,

Information Rights Unit

Information Rights Unit | Department for Business, Innovation & Skills | 1
Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET | www.gov.uk/bis |
[email address] |

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is making a
difference by supporting sustained growth and higher skills across the
economy. BIS: working together for growth

Dear [email address] on behalf of FOI Requests,

Given recent departmental changes can this FOI request please be passed on to the relevant official(s) at Department for Education, now that this policy area has transferred over from the defunct Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to DfE.

Yours sincerely,

Brian Harrison

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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FOI Requests, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Dear Mr Harrison

Thank you for your request for information dated 13^th July. Your request
is being considered under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI Act), our
reference FOI2016/ 16957. The FOI Act obliges us to respond to requests
promptly, and in any case no later than 20 working days after receiving
your request.  Unfortunately, this request has taken longer than we would
have liked to administer.  I can assure you this matter is currently under
consideration and I hope to respond to you in full shortly.

 

Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to you.

 

Kind regards,

 

Information Rights Unit

 

 

From: [email address] on behalf of FOI Requests
[mailto:[email address]]
Sent: 14 July 2016 10:56
Subject: Request for information - ref FOI2016/16957

 

BIS ref: FOI2016/16957

Dear Mr Harrison

Thank you for your request for information which was received on 13th
July. Your request has been passed on to the appropriate official at the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to deal with.

Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and we will reply at the latest by 10th August.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Information
Rights Unit at BIS. Please remember to quote the reference number above in
any future communications.

Kind regards,

Information Rights Unit

Information Rights Unit | Department for Business, Innovation & Skills | 1
Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET | [1]www.gov.uk/bis |
[2][email address] |

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is making a
difference by supporting sustained growth and higher skills across the
economy. BIS: working together for growth

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Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
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References

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1. http://www.gov.uk/bis
2. mailto:[email address]

Kamil Samir (Digital),

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Harrison,

 

Please find attached a response to your recent information request,
reference FOI2016/16957.

 

If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Department
for Education

 

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

 

Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to you.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Rights Unit

Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy,

1 Victoria Street

London, SW1H 0ET

[1]www.gov.uk/beis

 

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.gov.uk/beis

Dear Department for Business, Innovation and Skills,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Business, Innovation and Skills's handling of my FOI request 'Student Loans - repayment holidays'.

I do not accept the public interest test has been properly determined. Whilst I accept the provision for public policy decision making, the public should expect to know what options ministers have considered in making their policy decisions. This provides the public with sufficient knowledge to hold Government accountable for decisions made. I would also suggest that release does not prohibit in any way free and frank provision of advice or deliberation. This might be the case if the repayment holidays policy was currently being formulated and a FOI was made at the time. However, this policy was formulated in 2007, intended for implementation but then abandoned, and as far as I am aware there are no current plans to revisit this particular policy. It is therefore not the case that release of this information does not provide 'free thinking space' for ministers. Section 35 of the FOI Act (Formulation Of Government Policy) has therefore been incorrectly applied.

Moreover, the response does not indicate whether the Department holds information on when and why this policy was dropped before implementation, which was part of my request.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...

Yours faithfully,

Brian Harrison

BIS.Correspondence@bis.gsi.gov.uk on behalf of FOI Requests, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

BEIS ref: FOI2016/16957

Dear Mr Harrison

Thank you for your request for an internal review which was received on
26th August. Your request has been passed on to the appropriate official
at the Department for Education (DfE) to process.

In line with the Information Commissioners guidance, internal reviews
should be responded to within 20 working days unless they are complex, in
which case a response should be sent within 40 working days. Please be
aware that this does not include weekends and bank holidays. DfE aims to
respond to requests for internal reviews as quickly as possible. DfE hope
to be in contact with you again shortly with a decision on your request.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact the Information
Rights Unit at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any
future communications.

Kind regards,
Information Rights Unit

Information Rights Unit | Department for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy | 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET | www.gov.uk/beis |
[email address] |

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is
making a difference by supporting sustained growth and higher skills
across the economy. BEIS: working together for growth

---------
Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes
----------

Dear Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Department for Education),

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s... (BEIS ref: FOI2016/16957)

Please can you provide an update on my request for an internal review as 20 working days have now passed since your last response.

Since my original FOI request, I have done some further research on the repayment holidays policy which may assist the review process. As I detailed in my original request, the availability of repayment holidays were first announced on 5th July 2007 by the DIUS Secretary John Denham as a 5 year repayment holiday available to university starters in 2008 or later (https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?... ).
This was detailed on page 14 in the 2008/09 (https://www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/media/pd... ) and 2009/10 (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.u... ) SLC guides to terms and conditions.

In a written statement in the House of Lords on 20th July 2009, Peter Mandelson as BIS Secretary (https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2... ) retrospectively changed the number of available repayment holiday years to 2 from the originally promised 5:

“…the costs of supporting the extra students will be met through reprioritising existing budgets and reducing the optional five-year holiday on repayment of student loans to two years.”

“The repayment holiday on student loans was announced in July 2007. All students starting a higher education course in 2008-09 or later, taking out their first student loan and having a repayment start date of April 2012 or later are entitled to a repayment holiday. The intention is to help borrowers to manage their finances if there are other changes in their lives. Qualifying borrowers will now be offered the choice of putting their student loan repayments on hold for up to two years as opposed to up to five years as announced in July 2007.”

This was echoed by David Lammy in the House of Commons (https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2... ).

The change to an optional 2 year repayment holiday was included in the Labour version (pre-May 2010) of the 2010/11 SLC guide to terms and conditions (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.u... ) on page 18:

“If you live in England and the following conditions apply, you will have the option of taking a Repayment Holiday (a break in making your student loan repayments) when it is time to start repaying your loan:
• You started a higher-education course in 2008/09 or later; and
• This is your first student loan; and
• You have a repayment start date of April 2012 or later
If you are eligible, you will be able to take one or two years off repaying your loan from April 2012 onwards. Repayment Holidays must be within tax years. Any time you take as a Repayment Holiday will extend the usual 25-year repayment period by the length of the break you take. So if you were to take a Repayment Holiday lasting two years, your student loan would be written off after 27 years, rather than after 25.”

However in the post-May 2010 version of the 2010/11 guide to terms and conditions (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.u... ) and all future guides it had disappeared, suggesting it was the Coalition Government that did not honour the repayment holidays policy for existing borrowers. An NUS policy briefing here (http://nussl.ukmsl.net/pageassets/campai... ) which is dated July 2010 confirms “the planned student loan repayment holidays have now been scrapped altogether (having been reduced from five years to two years previously)”.

I therefore believe as this was a retrospective change to the intended loan repayment conditions for post-2008 borrowers, it is in the public interest to release the information I have requested relating to this policy.

Furthermore, in a letter to the NUS (http://nussl.ukmsl.net/asset/Blog/23/Wil... ) David Willetts stated that “there have been no changes to the pre-2012 ICR loan repayment terms since 2010, other than for a pre-planned annual increase in the repayment threshold in line with inflation (RPI)”. Whilst I accept that, strictly speaking, the terms and conditions of student loans are definitively the Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations 2009 as amended and anything not in these regulations cannot be said to be part of the terms, clearly repayment holidays (eventually of 2 years instead of 5) were intended to be implemented into the regulations as they were detailed in the guides to terms and conditions which students have to agree to when they take out loans.

Moreover, there was also retrospective changes to the intention on uprating the £15,000 repayment threshold from April 2010, partly as a result of the negative RPI in 2009 which is part of my FOI request here https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s... (BEIS ref: FOI2016/16914) which I am also awaiting an internal review of (20 working days have also passed with that one since your acknowledgement of my internal review request). Please provide an update as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully,

Brian Harrison

Dear Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Department for Education),

BEIS ref: FOI2016/16957

We are now 40 working days from the start of your internal review process on 26th August. This is the latest date by which (for complex cases) the result of an internal review should be communicated. Yet still no outcome has been forthcoming.

Can you respond giving the reason for the delay and whether the internal review has taken place?

Yours faithfully,

Brian Harrison

FOI Requests, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Dear Mr Harrison,

Thank you for your internal review request, which is being taken forward by appropriate officials in Department for Education (DfE).

The FOI Act obliges us to respond to requests promptly, and in any case no later than 20 working days after receiving your request. Unfortunately, this request has taken longer than we would have liked to administer. I can assure you this matter is currently under consideration and I hope to respond to you in full shortly.

Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to you.

Kind regards,

Information Rights Unit
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Orchard 3, Lower Ground Floor
1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H OET
www.gov.uk/beis

show quoted sections

Dear FOI Requests,

BEIS ref: FOI2016/16957

In October 2016 you stated that you hope to respond in full 'shortly' with the outcome of the internal review.
5 months later there has still been no response. Are you in a position to provide an update?

Yours sincerely,

Brian Harrison

Brian Harrison left an annotation ()

Response to internal review request posted here upholding decision to refuse release of the information:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...