Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that nationals of other EU member states who have taken out student loans but do not reside or work in the UK make their loan repayments.

Joseph Johnson

The Student Loans Company (SLC) has arrangements in place to collect repayments from borrowers who move away from the UK. SLC establishes a 12 month repayment schedule based on the borrower’s income and provides information on the methods of repayment available.

SLC sets up fixed repayment schedules for borrowers who do not remain in contact and will place those borrowers in arrears. Further action, including legal action, can then be taken to secure recovery. EC regulations allow the SLC to obtain judgments in UK courts, which can be enforced by courts in other EU countries.

The Department published a Joint Repayment Strategy in February 2016, which sets out how action will be taken to trace borrowers and act to recover loans where avoidance or evasion is identified. This publication can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/student-loan-repayment-strategy

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