Labour MP Ruth Cadbury has secured confirmation that the Government intends to publish an equality impact assessment of its Plan 2 student-loan repayment threshold freeze after the next Autumn Budget.
The Brentford and Isleworth MP asked when the Department for Education would publish its assessment of the changes due to affect Plan 2 borrowers.
Education minister Josh MacAlister said the assessment would examine the impact of the repayment and interest threshold freeze on borrowers.
It will include analysis of lifetime repayments as well as other effects of the policy.
Existing government modelling suggests the freeze will increase average lifetime repayments across the affected cohort, although the impact varies significantly according to graduate earnings.
Earlier Department for Education analysis put average lifetime repayments at £27,000 under the baseline and £28,300 following the policy, an average increase of £1,300 in 2024-25 prices.
Cadbury’s question establishes a clearer timetable for scrutiny of how the change affects different groups of borrowers, with publication now expected after the forthcoming Autumn Budget.
