PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES - United Kingdom Parliament

79WS
Written Ministerial Statements
26 MARCH 2013
Written Ministerial Statements
80WS
To meet this vision, the following four strategic objectives
have been adopted with associated key performance
indicators and objectives, plus two equality objectives:
Note: we will assess our achievement against these two equality
objectives by monitoring how well we progress in implementing
the supporting action plans.
EFFICIENCY
We will unlock efficiency in the public sector and land and property
market
Strategic Milestones
(E1) Run the operational budget with real term efficiency and business
strategy reduction of 3.2%
(E2) Increase the number of substantive dealing applications lodged
electronically by 11% to achieve 44% electronic dealing delivery by
March 2014
(E3) Develop a prototype Local Land Charges register, evaluate it
and complete a report to Ministers by March 2014, with recommendations
for the next steps towards a new Local Land Charges Service
Key Performance Indicator
(E4) Substantive registrations completed within an average of seven
working days
(E5) 5% reduction in carbon emissions on 2012-13
DATA
We will maximise the reuse of our data for the benefit of the wider
economy
Strategic milestones
(D1) release additional licensable data sets by 31 March 2014
(D2) Develop an online facility able to provide easy access for
customers to licensable data by 31 March 2014
(D3) Release two additional data sets to W3 standard level 4 by
31 March 2014.
Key Performance Indicators
(d4) Average external e-service availability at 99.6% or higher during
published service hours
ASSURANCE
We will increase and extend the assurance and compliance provided
to the market
Strategic Milestones
(A1) The percentage of customers who rate our overall service as
good, very good or excellent to achieve 96%.
(A2) To achieve a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 50
(A3) Introduce a free property alert service launched by 30 September
2013
Key Performance Indicators
(a4) Substantive registrations to pass at least 98% of defined quality
checks
CAPABILITY
We will grow and maximise the benefit of our organisational capability
Strategic Milestones
(C1) We will be in the third quartile of Whitehall departments for
staff engagement by the end of 2013-14
Key Performance Indicator
(C2) Introduce Performance and Innovation (LEAN) techniques to
the management teams in each directorate and local office by 31 March
2014
Equality Objectives
a) Internal equality objective
To drive a culture of inclusion and respect within our
organisation and positively seek to improve engagement
of staff who share protected characteristics.
b) External equality objective
To equip our staff to identify, anticipate and satisfy
our customers’ diverse needs by delivering products,
services and channels at a cost we can both afford.
Student Loan Book Sale
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and
Skills (Vince Cable): I am today announcing that the
remaining publicly owned mortgage-style student loan
book will be offered for sale by the Government under
the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990 as amended by
the Education (Student Loans) Act 1998. The sale will
take place in conjunction with the Scottish Government,
the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern
Ireland and the Student Loans Company.
Mortgage-style loans were available to eligible higher
education students who were enrolled between 1990
and 1998. Borrowers are required to repay in fixed
monthly instalments over a defined period, typically
five or seven years. Interest is charged at a rate equivalent
to the retail prices index. Repayments can be deferred
for a year at a time if a borrower’s income is below the
threshold, which is 85% of the national average earnings.
Currently the threshold is £27,813. There will be no
change to borrowers’ terms and conditions as a result of
the sale.
The Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland
Executive are responsible for loans issued by those
respective Administrations and both have agreed the
sale. English and Welsh loans are the responsibility of
the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
There were two previous sales of mortgage-style loans
in 1998 and 1999. The remaining loans owned by the
Government are mostly either in deferment or in arrears,
so total annual repayments are low.
The loans to be offered for sale have a face value of
around £900 million but, due to the low level of repayments
in relation to the loan book, the market value will likely
be significantly lower. The Government recognise that
the private sector may improve the collection of repayments
using their expertise. Additionally, they will provide
operational benefits to the Student Loans Company
(SLC) as the significant majority of the administration
is transferred to the buyer. This sale will reduce public
sector net debt and forms part of a wider effort to
maximise the value of Government assets.
We will be assessing all potential buyers against a
strict set of criteria and a sale will only proceed if value
for money for the taxpayer and borrower protections
consistent with the law are assured. The sale will not
include any income contingent repayment (ICR) loans,
therefore no current students or borrowers who solely
took out an ICR loan after September 1998 will be
affected.
More details of the sale will be published by BIS in
due course.
“Nuclear Industry Strategy”
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and
Skills (Vince Cable): The Government have today published
“Nuclear Industrial Strategy”, which has been produced
in consultation with industry and other interested
stakeholders.