@embrace Tickets sorted for the earlier show so I have 2 spare for the evening show if anyone is looking for some. Looking forward to getting my 6 copies of the album too π
@BBCNewsnight@back_the_BBC At least if she does well out of it and gets a decent wage her future kids will only get half of the loan she was granted, with gov expecting her to fork out the rest π€ͺ
@_GiveUsAQuid @BBCNewsnight Not entirely true. Plan 1 written off at age 65 if taken before 2006. Plan 5 is scandalous. Canβt believe all the fuss is about Plan 2β¦
Student Loans: the furore is over Plan 2, but new starters (Eng) are on even worse Plan 5!
My last two posts have been about Plan 2 student loans (Eng & Welsh students who started Uni 2012 to 2023). Those who started since Aug 2023 (Eng) are on Plan 5, which is even more expensive for most...
As while the interest rate is lower (set at the RPI rate of inflation as opposed to up to RPI+3%) you start repaying at income of just Β£25,000 and you repay for up to 40 years.
The combination of this means it's predicted many middle earners will repay in total 40% or 50% more than those on Plan 2 for the same degrees.
And that's before we get to the fact that the English household income assessment for maintenance loans has been frozen since 2008. So students start to lose entitlement from family income of just Β£25,000/yr (if it'd risen with inflation it'd be around Β£35,000 to 40,000).
That means, for example, a child of a single parent who is earning little above min wage won't get the full living loan, never mind dual earning parents.
And don't get me started on the issue of 'parents partner moves in'.
The problem is the system is so complex very few understand it, including quite a few politicians I've met, And of the politicians who do understand it, they tend to use confusion marketing, to make the lifetime cost more expensive while focusing on superficial headline changes (eg Plan 5 change focused on lower interest).
The govt's Student Loan Plan 2 repayment freeze in April 2027 must be reversed. It isn't moral.
I'm concerned that my debate with Kemi Badenoch this morning distracts from the most immediate problem. In April 2027 Rachel Reeves will freeze the Plan 2 student loan threshold until 2030 which by then will increase graduate repayments by Β£300/yr more.
This is effectively a unilateral negative breach of the student loan contract. Students were told the threshold would rise with average earnings. No commercial lender would be allowed to do this. The govt shouldn't do it either.
Changing the terms of future students loans is a political decision - people may not like it but it is transparent. Negatively changing the terms of contracts already signed, and long in place, is a breach of natural justice.