Debt repaid in relation to information from FoI/19/02289: FOI release

Information requested

The amount that has been repaid in relation to the information supplied for FoI/19/02289.

Response

• Of the 110 fraud cases that are on the debt recovery system, 50 of them have an active debt. The total original value of that debt is £157,477 .

(Please note that the original debt value includes debt relating to fraud but it could also include other debt reasons for example, a previous debt the student had due to non-attendance or because their household circumstances changed. A student has one debt record for all debts and there is currently no way of separating out just the fraud debt.)

• Of this total value, £21,312 has been repaid. As we accept repayments plans and for instalments to be made, the debt is repaid over a period of time rather than in lump sums.

• The data for the remaining 60 cases is no longer available to access from the debt system reports. This is because these cases have been ‘archived’ by the system. A case is ‘archived’ when the debt value had either been paid in full or if the debt has been removed. A debt may be removed for a number of reasons which can include

• The debtor is deceased
• The debtor cannot be traced/found
• The debtor’s circumstances have changed and the debt value has been re-calculated
• The debt is recovered from a later SAAS award rather than through debt recovery processes.  

Once a debt has been ‘archived’ we are no longer able to retrieve the data from any system reports and therefore cannot provide any further information about these cases.

About FOI
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