§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the current(a) number and (b) value of loans to students which have not been repaid by their due date; and if he will make a statement. [94742]
§ Mr. Wicks[holding answer 19 October 1999]: The Student Loans Company has informed me that at 31 August 1999 167,716 student loans accounts were in arrears. The total value of the arrears at that date was £70,062,402. These figures are for the United Kingdom. These arrears arise from mortgage style loans taken out under the previous scheme. The new loan system where repayments are directly linked to a borrower's income after leaving university or college and are repaid through the Inland Revenue should result in lower levels of arrears.