Scheduled Event -
Tuesday 15th September
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Commons -
Select Committee Statement - Main Chamber
Select Committee Statement on the First Special Report of the Treasury Committee, Government Response to Student Loans: Broken and unfair?, HC 14
MP: Meg HillierSpeech in Commons Chamber - Tue 15 Sep 2026 Student Loans
"I am pleased to rise to make a statement on the Government’s response to the Treasury Committee’s report on the student loans system.
It is worth laying out what our inquiry did. We took evidence from a number of people, including students and graduate representatives at the National Union of …..." Meg Hillier - View Speech
"The Committee certainly received some evidence on that issue. There is a logic to not paying back the loan until that point, because students are mostly not working, so there would be a real challenge in paying it back while someone is an undergraduate or graduate student. The hon. Lady …..." Meg Hillier - View Speech
"I absolutely think it should be a high priority, because this generation is being so severely squeezed. The Government’s response to the Committee said:
“The Government recognises the cost-of-living challenges faced by many graduates, including those with Plan 2 student loans, and understands concerns about the impact of repayment terms …..." Meg Hillier - View Speech
"In that simple question, my hon. Friend raises a raft of issues. For most students, the only way that they can go to university is by getting a loan. There has been a big drive to get people to go to university who would not have been able to do …..." Meg Hillier - View Speech
"One good thing is that the Government have recognised that problem in their response to us. We are dealing with mostly teenagers under the age of 18. Sometimes those going to university for the first time do not have other people around them who can advise them about the impact …..." Meg Hillier - View Speech
"I thank my hon. Friend for the excellent work that she and her Committee do. We know that there is a crisis in the higher education system, but there is also a huge challenge for the graduates paying off these loans. It is a multifaceted picture, so I am pleased …..." Meg Hillier - View Speech
"When I looked at this issue in previous roles, before I was on the Treasury Committee, I found that one of the challenges is that the loan system is set up with lots of box-ticking and spreadsheets happening in Government Departments in Whitehall—a very long way from a 17-year-old who …..." Meg Hillier - View Speech
"As my hon. Friend said, we looked at a number of ways of changing things. Once somebody has a plan that has been set up, it is very difficult to unpick different parts of it, but the threshold freeze was added on top of the plan 2 system. That is …..." Meg Hillier - View Speech
"It is not only my hon. Friend, I and the Committee who agree on that—it is the Government too. The Secretary of State for Education herself has said there are problems and previous Ministers have called it a broken system. There is a long way to move from a broken …..." Meg Hillier - View Speech