SLC responds to National Audit Office (NAO) report
SLC response to the NAO report: Investigation into student finance for study at franchised higher education providers
Chris Larmer, Student Loans Company, Chief Executive Officer, commenting on the National Audit Office (NAO) investigation into student finance for study at franchised higher education providers said:
“SLC is grateful to the NAO for its work, which in part, builds upon the investigatory work of our Financial Crime Prevention Unit.
“We routinely perform monitoring activity to detect suspicious activity and have robust controls in place to ensure all payments are made, as stipulated by the student finance regulations. This includes ensuring that we have confirmation of registration and attendance from Higher Education Providers (HEPs) before any payment is released.
“We take financial crime seriously and as noted in the report, we proactively raise issues of concern with the Department for Education (DfE) and Office for Students (OfS), taking action to protect public funds wherever possible, within the scope of our powers and remit.
“It is essential that HEPs meet their obligations under the wider regulatory regime, to ensure that student loan funding is protected and can be accessed as intended by regulation.
“We will continue to work closely with DfE and OfS to protect public funds and we acknowledge the recommendations set out in this report.”
The full name for the student finance regulations is The Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011.