1. business and industrial

BUSINESS PLAN
FINANCIAL YEAR 2013-14
APRIL 2013
Contents
Page
About SLC 1
Chairman’s Statement 3
Chief Executive’s Foreword 4
Executive Summary 6
1. Transforming SLC 9
2. Sustaining our business and systems14
3. Delivering change17
4. Serving our customers21
5. Managing our people26
6. Managing public money28
7. Leadership Team priorities33
Annexes
Annex 1. Planning framework
Annex 2. Key business objectives
Annex 3. Balanced Scorecard illustration
Annex 4. Balanced Scorecard targets
Annex 5. Key risk themes
Annex 6. Funding requirement
About SLC…
Who we are
The Student Loans Company (SLC) is a non-profit-making Government-owned organisation set up in
1989 to provide loans and grants to students at universities and colleges in the UK. We play a central
role in supporting an educated, flexible workforce, and by doing so contribute to strong, sustainable
and balanced growth in the economy.
We do this by working with the Departments for Business, Innovation & Skills (England), Education and
Lifelong Learning (Scotland), Education and Skills (Wales) and Employment and Learning (Northern
Ireland).
We also work closely with the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS), Local Authorities in Wales,
the Education and Library Boards in Northern Ireland, higher and further education providers, HM
Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and other delivery partners.
1
What we do
Our core functions are to:
• provide information, advice and guidance (IAG) on student finance
• pay loans and grants to students and learners in higher and further education
• pay tuition fees to higher and further education providers
• pay bursaries and scholarships on behalf of higher and further education providers
• work with HMRC to collect loan repayments
• manage direct collection from customers making voluntary additional payments, living
overseas or repaying grant and loan overpayments
• collect repayments on loans issued under the former ‘mortgage-style’ loans (MSL) scheme
• make maintenance payments to pupils aged over 16 in Northern Ireland and Wales
• provide expert operational advice and high quality data and information to support
Government Administrations’ policy-making and analysis
We strive constantly to streamline the student finance system, enhancing our services and the
customer experience through technology and improved business processes.
Who we help
For most students in the UK we provide loans to help cover their living costs, as well as loans for their
tuition fees. We pay the maintenance loans into their bank accounts at the start of each term (monthly
for students in Scotland) and the tuition fees direct to their provider.
In FY 2011-12 we supported around 1.3 million customers, paying out £5.6 billion in maintenance loans
and grants, and £3.1 billion in tuition fees to higher and further education providers. And, in partnership
with HMRC, we recorded collections of £1.6 billion in loan repayments.
Where we’re based
SLC currently has around 2,000 staff on permanent contracts, located across four sites: Glasgow (city
centre), Glasgow (Hillington), Colwyn Bay and Darlington. We also have up to 1,500 additional staff
supporting us at peak times of the academic year through outsourced service providers and temporary
contracts. To further our aim for closer working with our stakeholders we are establishing a presence
in London in the early part of FY 2013-14, sharing the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s
new office facility.
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Chairman’s Statement
It has been enormously encouraging to see the change in SLC over the
last three years under Ed Lester’s leadership. Service to customers is
stable and satisfaction improving. Far-reaching policy initiatives have
been implemented smoothly. New services have been built, and are now
being delivered to new customers. Confidence in SLC has regained and
surpassed previous levels. I am most grateful to Ed, and to staff at every
level in SLC for the skill and commitment they have demonstrated.
It is now time for the next step. In 2011 the Leadership Team looked
closely at the challenges ahead and recognised the need to modernise
SLC’s ageing systems and to change its delivery model. Without
significant change we cannot meet these challenges. And this change
needs to penetrate every level of the organisation.
I am delighted, therefore, to welcome Mick Laverty to SLC as its new Chief Executive Officer to
take this ambitious programme forward. Mick has set out the steps he and his Leadership Team
will take this year. In the whole of SLC’s existence – nearly 25 years – the wider environment it
operates in has possibly never been more demanding, nor the needs more pressing.
But the opportunities are also considerable, and I remain confident that the Company has what
it takes to become a high-performing organisation and fulfil its central role in providing excellent
loan application and management services to students, sponsors and graduates as well as
effective relationships with our many other stakeholders.
That is why I fully endorse this Business Plan, and the Transformation Programme at its heart.
Ed Smith
Chairman
April 2013
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Chief Executive’s Foreword
As the Student Loans Company’s newly-appointed Chief Executive,
it is clear to me that the coming year is a very important one. This
Business Plan sets out why. It explains our mission and vision, key
business objectives and priorities, and how we aim to achieve them.
We are now delivering student finance services to over four million
customers, customers who live in an increasingly digital world. They
are used to doing almost everything on-line or through ‘apps’. This
is particularly true, for example, for banking, where accounts can be
checked, questions answered and loans applied for from a smartphone,
with instant 24/7 access. Take-up of our social media channels,
launched on Facebook and Twitter in 2011, has been impressive and
points to the demand that exists. We now need to go further.
We are implementing the Government’s higher and further education reforms. Last year, the first
year of the new higher education funding arrangements in England, we met the challenges of
increased tuition fees and payments to higher education providers for full-time students with a
successful Academic Year (AY) 2012/13 cycle.
We introduced a new digitally-enabled service for part-time students using an innovative
approach to service design which puts customers at the heart of what we do. We also launched
the service for AY 2013/14 in February and the processing cycle is now underway.
Alongside our existing services we are rolling out a new customer-led, digitally-enabled service
in April for further education in England – ‘24+ Advanced Learning Loan’ – with the Department
for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and learning providers.
This represents a new customer group for SLC, and a new stakeholder base. And for Wales, we
are continuing the work started last year to build a new, modernised end-to-end student finance
service, which will be launched early in 2014.
Throughout this change, at a time of severe pressures on public funds, managing public money
responsibly remains vital. We are developing a strong regulatory framework with the Higher
Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and other partner bodies to protect students
and meet the sector’s future needs. We also recognise the importance to Government of the
fast-growing student loan book, underlined by the forthcoming National Audit Office review of
repayments, and the criticality of maintaining effective collection arrangements. Ministers have
asked us to make this a strategic priority and we are currently refreshing our repayment strategy.
All this means working even more closely with our stakeholders and delivery partners in future,
so that we engage effectively, understand and anticipate concerns, and respond quickly and
appropriately. We are now putting plans and resources in place to ensure that we are able to
meet their needs and expectations in the future.
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At the heart of the Business Plan this year is our Transformation Programme. We are already preparing
to replace our customer accounts platform, along with other core systems, so that we can provide
the digital systems customers expect, and offer the flexibility stakeholders need far into the future.
But transformation is about much more than replacing IT systems. For SLC it is a business-wide
transformation, and an opportunity to put in place the foundations for a truly excellent organisation,
delivering digitally-enabled services at a significantly reduced cost.
The Business Plan builds on the strong progress we have made over the last three years. It is good
to know that BIS and our other stakeholders recognise how far we have come and now have great
confidence in us. They believe we are sound, reliable and capable of delivering a safe service for
customers.
While we were rebuilding our reputation we were largely protected from the spending cuts applied
across Government and its partner organisations. Now that confidence in SLC is restored we have to
step up and make our full contribution to the budget reductions being sought across the public sector.
Our Transformation Programme will let us take a very close look at how we can do things smarter and
much more efficiently. And, as we do this, we will be developing unique capabilities that can be used
elsewhere, and looking to exploit growth opportunities across Government and beyond.
I believe that SLC is a good organisation, and one that could be great. We have very talented people
who value customers and are committed to delivering quality services and driving change, in line with
our behavioural and cultural blueprint, Leading the Way. We have everything we need to succeed and
this Plan sets out how we will start to create a truly great organisation.
Mick Laverty
Chief Executive and Accounting Officer
April 2013
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Executive Summary
1
Our Mission
We enable our customers to invest in their futures by delivering secure, accurate and
efficient assessment, payment and repayment services.
Our Mission sets out what we do, how we do it and why we do it. It describes our current remit – why
we exist and what we’re doing today, tomorrow and in the months ahead:
‘What we do’ has three main components: we assess eligibility, we make payments and we provide
repayment services. Everyone in the Company – whatever their role – is supporting these activities,
even if they aren’t directly involved in providing them.
‘How we do it’ stresses both the need to do things right first time with minimum fuss, so that customers
get what they need from us easily and speedily, and we don’t waste time and money. It also highlights
the very real need to deal with personal information carefully and sensitively.
‘Why we do it’ captures the essence of why we exist. We’re here to help our customers invest in their
futures. We help them access funding to enhance their knowledge, improve their skills and increase
their opportunities. This benefits not only them, but also the communities they live in and the country
as a whole.
Our Vision
Our vision is to be valued as a digital, customer-focused, centre of excellence.
Our Vision looks further ahead. It sets out what sort of organisation we want SLC to be in the future and
how we’d like to be regarded. It has three components:
‘Digital’ captures the transition we’re making from being an organisation that still relies heavily on
manual processes to one that will, for most customers, be wholly automated and accessed via the
internet or mobile device.
Our digital aspirations are consistent with the Government’s digital by default agenda which aims to
provide “digital services that are so straightforward and convenient that all those who can use them will
choose to do so whilst those who can’t are not excluded”.
‘Customer-focused’ reflects our aspiration to provide a high-quality service to our customers, whatever
their needs and preferences, allowing them to transact their business with us – whether it’s accessing
funding, making repayments or tracking their account – quickly, easily and conveniently.
It also marks our determination to get things right first time, so that we compare favourably with bestin-class customer service organisations.
‘Centre of excellence’ looks to the future. We already have deep expertise across the Company and
replacing our core systems will give us the capacity to further develop and expand this expertise,
enhancing the Company’s growing reputation as a centre of excellence.
This will allow us to provide or sell our services beyond our current remit and we will look to explore
opportunities across Government and further afield.
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Our Objectives
Over the past three years we have demonstrated that we are a reliable delivery partner and have
regained the trust of Government. Our aim now is to build on that trust and go further, not only providing
excellent customer service, agile delivery and a cost-efficient business model but, in time, becoming
an authoritative partner to Government on student finance and high-volume digital delivery services.
Having delivered a ‘safe’ student finance service consistently, the period of consolidation is nearing its
end and we now move forward to deliver the Transformation Programme with confidence.
Over the next three years we will transform our organisation to achieve more efficient and effective
service delivery for customers. At the same time it is essential that we sustain current services and
deliver the policy changes required by Government.
As we deliver against our performance targets we will do our utmost to continue improving the services
we provide, using feedback from customers, staff and other stakeholders.
We rely on the full engagement of our people. Our Leading the Way framework describes the organisation
we want to be and the culture we are striving to achieve.
And we need to retain the trust of our stakeholders by demonstrating the highest standards possible
at all times in the way we manage public money and provide value for money.
These key business objectives (Fig 1) will enable us to meet the requirement on all public bodies to
become more efficient and to deliver improved services with less funding.
1. Progress our business Transformation Programme
2. Sustain critical business processes and systems for the duration of the Transformation
Programme to ensure a safe service
3. Execute our Delivery Programme to meet annual policy changes and new stakeholder
priorities
4. Provide a safe and efficient student finance service that meets the needs and
expectations of our customers and stakeholders, and continue to improve the customer
experience
5. Manage our people responsibly and continue to embed our Leading the Way framework
6. Manage public money responsibly
Fig 1 Key business objectives
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Leadership Team priorities
Alongside these key business objectives for the Company, our Leadership Team will be paying close
attention to a number of priorities that underpin the objectives, and that will require collegiate ownership
and action:
1. Delivering our Vision and aligning our approach with Leading the Way
2. Reviewing our organisational design to align with our transformation work and to ensure it
remains fit-for-purpose
3. Creating an effective, integrated framework for corporate, business and financial planning
4. Developing a stronger approach to strategic relationship management
5. Exploring new opportunities for growth, to leverage our existing and emerging unique
capabilities
Fig 2 Leadership Team priorities
Communicating our priorities
The purpose of this Business Plan is to inform our staff, stakeholders and the wider public of our plans
for the forthcoming financial year.
This year’s Business Plan is issued at the halfway stage of the SLC Delivery Strategy 2011-15. When the
Delivery Strategy was prepared in 2011 we recognised that fundamental reform of the Company was
needed if we were to fulfil the role envisaged by BIS as a result of the Higher Education (HE) reforms,
and to be able to satisfy the increasingly divergent needs of the four Government Administrations:
nothing less than a transformation would suffice.
Although this document focuses particularly on new services and initiatives, and the changes that will
be delivered through our Transformation, Sustain and Delivery Programmes, our other key business
objectives are no less important. We will use our Plan to communicate and confirm the priorities for the
year ahead and to set the personal objectives for all staff across the Company. We will also publish it
on the Company’s public website.
The targets agreed with our Government sponsors in our Annual Performance and Resource Agreement
(APRA) letter are incorporated into our Balanced Scorecard and performance against them is reported
on a monthly basis. The Balanced Scorecard also includes key internal targets that are monitored by
our Board.
During FY 2013-14 we will review our Balanced Scorecard and move towards a more strategic set of
measures for next year to support our Transformation Programme and our longer-term organisational
strategy.
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1. Transforming SLC
Rebuilding our organisation to meet the future needs of our customers and stakeholders
Over the past three years we have demonstrated that we are a reliable delivery partner and have
regained the trust of Government. Our aim now is to build on that trust and go further, not only providing
excellent customer service, agile delivery and a cost-efficient business model but, in time, becoming
an authoritative partner to Government on student finance and high-volume digital delivery services.
The vast majority of our customers are technically-proficient, and used to instant communication via
social media and on-line channels. They log into their on-line bank accounts, can instantly check
balances and do not expect loan applications to take weeks to process. Some of our customers have
additional needs that require specific support from us. We need to respond to changing customer
demand if our services are to fit around their choices and lifestyles.
We will aim to be more responsive to these needs by seeking to improve our services to fit around our
customers’ choices and lifestyles, for example by adopting mobile technology, and also increasing the
accessibility of our digital services for our customers with disabilities.
As technology has changed, so too has the role that Information Technology (IT) plays in modern
business. IT’s role is not to develop systems that the business has to adapt to: it is to build core
services that are flexible and reliable, and that allow new applications and functionality to be built on
top of them. Business logic and processes should be readily configurable by users without the need
for assistance from software developers.
Within SLC, this role will rely on IT being an active and integrated part of the business, fundamentally
changing the way that we operate. This will require technical, organisational and cultural change.
A Transformation Programme has already been established to drive this forward. It has four key
elements:
• Core Systems Replacement
• Digital Delivery
• Business Improvements
• Organisational Design and Efficiency
Success will be an SLC that delivers services in a way that is driven by customer need, rather than the
limitations of our current business model, and meets the expectations of our stakeholders at reduced
cost levels.
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1.1 Core Systems Replacement
Building a new IT platform to support our future business needs
Our systems have evolved over the last two decades through a mixture of in-house development
and commercial off-the-shelf packages, and increasingly lack the ability to support Government
requirements and customer needs fully for the future.
To provide a quality customer experience we need the flexibility to offer a range of on-line communication
channels capable of being developed as customers adopt new technologies (or use them in new ways),
and of adapting to feedback.
To offer our stakeholders the responsiveness and value for money we both seek, we need the flexibility
to build and operate business processes that are efficient and effective, improve continuously and
readily accommodate policy change.
Moreover, public student loan debt currently stands at approximately £50 billion and is forecast to
rise rapidly, while underlying transaction volumes are also set to grow significantly. Stability of the
underlying systems is of paramount importance to maximise and protect the value of the loan book,
particularly in the light of future debt sales.
These requirements demand a flexible technology platform and Fig 3 provides a high-level view of the
technical model we are proposing to adopt. Working in partnership with the Cabinet Office Government
Digital Service team, the Transformation Programme will pursue an Agile approach, ensuring early
deliverables offering customer and business benefit, and helping to manage risk.
Fig 3 Technical model
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We have completed a detailed analysis of which systems we need to replace and have considered
alternative scoping options for automating and digitising our business services. We have developed
a business case that sets out the strategic, economic, financial, commercial and management logic,
1
and believe that maximum benefit will be achieved by replacing CLASS and other core systems with
a bought-in core banking system and by building on open-source solutions.
The primary purpose of CSR is to modernise and provide resilient systems in order to deliver the
Government’s HE reform programme. Without investing in new systems, SLC would not be able to
deliver HE reform (volumes of transactions, variable interest rates, etc). The case for CSR is therefore
not financial in its own right but rather is a pre-requisite to delivery of significant savings for Government.
SLC is taking the opportunity to build upon this investment and to replace other components and reengineer its processes in order to deliver ongoing financial benefit.
We published a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) in January 2013. A
competitive dialogue process is being followed to appoint suppliers to develop a technical solution and
manage its implementation. The full business case and benefits realisation plan will be submitted to BIS
for approval prior to the planned contract award in September 2013, with a subsequent implementation
phase lasting 15 months to the end of December 2014. The first version of the new processing system
is planned to be in place in January 2015 to process new applications for the AY 2015/16 cycle.
Subsequent phases of delivery will include migration of existing customer accounts and key data to
the new systems framework.
The combination of revitalised core systems platform and new data centres (section 2.3) will be major
milestones on the road to SLC’s strategic goals.
1 CLASS (Customer Ledger Account Servicing System) is an internal system that allows SLC to manage student
loan applications from approval through to final closure of the account. SLC staff use CLASS to process loan
payments, maintain customer details, add interest, process repayments and manage loan deferments.
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1.2 Digital Delivery
Delivering our services on-line, anytime, anywhere
The Government Digital Strategy (2012) sets out how the UK
Government will become ‘digital by default’. This means providing
digital services which are so straightforward and convenient that all
those who can use digital services will choose to do so, while those
who can’t are not excluded.
SLC’s Digital Delivery project team is working closely with
partners at Government Digital Service in the Cabinet Office,
with BIS, and with other organisations experienced in Agile
development, to deliver a new set of on-line services in line with what customers want. Our current
on-line service has been effective in encouraging on-line applications – currently over 90% of customers
apply that way – but surveys have shown that the majority of customers are dissatisfied with the way
the system works and find it difficult to navigate. We aim to ensure that all of our customers can use
our new systems with ease.
Currently, each on-line application generates an average of 3.6 calls to the contact centre. A large
portion of these calls are enquiries which could be answered on-line, or eliminated altogether. A new
application process that is easier to navigate and clearer on what information needs to be provided
by the customer will reduce these calls, provide a better service on-line and save significant sums of
public money.
At the same time, our approach to digital delivery is introducing new customer-focused and Agile
methodologies to our development work and, through this, challenging existing ways of working across
the organisation.
1.3 Business Improvements
Continually improving what we do and how we do it
We have an ever-increasing list of business process and system changes we know would improve
customer experience, increase efficiency, reduce costs and strengthen management control.
Improvements that are both high priority and large scale will be managed as projects under the
Transformation Programme.
These include, for example, delivery of income-contingent repayment (ICR) statements on-line and a
new platform for system-generated letters that will let us tailor correspondence to customers’ specific
needs more easily.
We will prioritise improvements that offer early delivery of business benefits.
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1.4 Organisational Design and Efficiency
Ensuring fast, effective decision-making and successful delivery of service
So far, the Transformation Programme described above has focused on the processes and systems
that will support future service delivery. However, successful transition to SLC’s desired future state will
depend significantly on the investment we make in our people. Critically, the impacts of transformation
on our employees will need to be carefully planned and managed over the next two to three years (see
section 5.3).
The main objective of our Organisational Design and Efficiency project is to design the future organisation,
determine the type and number of people required for the transformed SLC, and the mix of in-house
and outsource provision. As SLC implements its Transformation Programme our resource requirement
will reduce. Key principles are to maximise security of employment for permanent staff and to provide
skills and opportunities for people to move to new roles as we progress through the transformation.
Working in partnership with PCS, our trade union, we will keep our staff fully informed as our thinking
and planning develops. The need to reduce staff numbers will be offset to some extent by successful
identification and delivery of the new growth opportunities described in section 7.5.
Creation of the future organisation design will be led by the Executive Team as one of their key priorities.
Supporting them will be two groups. One will look at organisational design and development,
establishing organisational structures, developing the capability, capacity and culture of the organisation,
and planning the approach to staff and stakeholder engagement. The other will look at benefits
realisation – linking in with the work on value for money described in section 6.1.
The Government’s move to shared services (section 6.8) will also be reflected in SLC’s organisational
design and resourcing plans.
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE 1
Progress our business Transformation Programme
KEY ACTIVITIES FY 2013-14
APRA MEASURES
•Complete the Core Systems Replacement (CSR)
procurement process through to contract award
•Complete delivery of the new digital services for HE parttime and Further Education (FE) 24+ Advanced Learning
Loan
•Establish the business improvement framework within the
Transformation Programme
•Establish the organisational design workstream to design a
fit-for-purpose future business model
•Prepare the organisation for migration of agreed activities to
shared services
• None
INTERNAL MEASURES
• Evaluation by the SRO/Programme Board
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2. Sustaining our business and systems
Keeping our services running smoothly while we change
In a time of substantial change affecting almost all of our processes and systems it is vital that we
maintain them properly during the period of transformation to ensure that they remain capable of
delivering the services on which our various customers depend. We have reviewed our capacity and
capability to meet the challenges of the Transformation Programme and established the Sustain
Programme to address our findings.
The objective of the Sustain Programme, and of the projects described below, is to reduce risk to
delivery of the stable, safe and efficient service that we have established in the last few years (see
section 4.1) while core systems are being replaced. The Programme addresses our major IT systems,
networks and data management, together with the infrastructure and data centre environment which
host them. The burden on our existing systems and services will increase while we are going through
the Transformation Programme and we need to be sure that processing and systems capacity will
continue to meet demand, that defects and faults are managed and that software and applications are
adapted and developed to meet business needs.
The Sustain Programme is designed to be flexible: as systems are reviewed and stability confirmed,
initiatives related to those systems will be removed from the programme. New workstreams will be
added as the programme develops and any unforeseen issues arising will be managed.
2.1 CLASS
We need to ensure that our core systems continue to perform reliably until they are replaced. Our
CLASS Sustaining project is already achieving a steady reduction in daily/monthly batch run-time. We
have established a base position that ensures performance will meet business requirements for the
next 24 months while the new solution is being developed. We are now moving on to look at other
core systems, including public facing ‘portals’ and those supporting assessment and repayment, to
ensure that we take any necessary steps to maintain capacity. We will complete our assessment of the
remaining systems by July 2013.
At the same time, we have a range of initiatives underway to stabilise our network infrastructure, to help
mitigate risks around availability and performance of all core business systems. This work is scheduled
to be substantially complete by July 2013 and should provide sufficient capacity to protect service
delivery through the transformation period.
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2.2 Workflow and imaging
Our service relies heavily on robust document and image processing. The workflow and imaging project
has been reviewing the current infrastructure to ensure it can cope with the volumes expected in AY
2013/14 and AY 2014/15.
Our imaging service is made up of a number of individual components, some of which now require
attention. For example, a key component associated with image capture needs to be upgraded. This has
been scheduled around business needs and will be in place by May 2013. The component supporting
storage of images is robust and sufficient for the transformation period, but we need increased ICT
capacity to be sure that the component associated with presenting images to SLC operational staff
will be available, and will perform to the required levels, through the anticipated peaks. We intend to
complete the necessary additions to capacity by July 2013.
Once we have established a stable imaging platform the project will look to introduce an automated
workflow solution to assist operational managers in allocating and reporting on work-in-progress
more efficiently. This work will bring operational efficiencies and improved customer service. Options
are currently being considered to determine which solutions are available and whether these can be
deployed in time to provide benefit during the AY 2013/14 application cycle.
2.3 Data centres
As part of a wider review of our infrastructure estate we are currently placing a contract to move to
two new high-specification hosted data centres. This project involves a number of strategic elements:
reviewing our current assets; developing an asset replacement plan which includes looking at new
technical options, such as use of the ‘cloud’; a data centre design which delivers strategic disaster
recovery capability; and technical facilities which provide a platform for long-term operational stability.
This project is essential as there have been long-standing concerns around the resilience of our existing
data centre arrangements.
Substantial progress has already been made. A procurement exercise is nearing completion. A preferred
supplier has been selected and due diligence is underway to confirm that any potential technical issues
are understood and that there is confidence in the proposed solutions. We expect that this will be
completed in time for contracts to be signed before the end of April 2013. In the meantime procurement
of the equipment required within the SLC infrastructure to support this project is well advanced and we
expect to have our base infrastructure build completed in May/June 2013.
Detailed plans for migration from our existing data centres will be finalised in the early part of the year
and we expect to complete migration to the new data centres by March 2014.
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2.4 Business continuity
We also intend to implement actions recommended in our recent governance review of business
continuity management and IT disaster recovery, to ensure that our processes are in line with good
practice. We are looking to build on improvements delivered last year to disaster recovery arrangements
for a number of core systems.
Plans are in place and resources allocated to allow a full review of business continuity and IT disaster
recovery plans to be completed by July 2013, ensuring that these are aligned to business impact
analysis and reflect fully the criticality of our vital business systems.
Initial tests to prove the level of resilience and establish ‘lessons learnt’ are scheduled to be completed
by February 2014. Further stages of testing will be completed following relocation of our data centres.
2.5 Other initiatives
The Sustain Programme is also considering a number of other system issues, such as core business
email stability. As mentioned above a number of relatively minor initiatives such as this are expected to
come into the scope of the programme during the course of the year.
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE 2
Sustain critical business processes and systems for
the duration of the Transformation Programme to
ensure a safe service
KEY ACTIVITIES FY 2013-14
APRA MEASURES
•Ensure SLC’s current ICT systems, processes and
infrastructure remain reliable and fit for the purpose of
delivering a safe and effective student finance service
•Develop an effective workflow solution, starting with the
imaging platform, to streamline the application assessment
process
•Complete the data centre contract process and commence
migration of systems
•Complete the planning process for business continuity and
align business continuity and IT disaster recovery plans
•Target and address stabilisation issues on other business
systems until core systems are replaced
•Maintain interim technology roadmaps for business systems
that match business demands until core systems are
replaced
• None
INTERNAL MEASURES
• Evaluation by the SRO/Programme Board
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3. Delivering change
Creating the products and services our stakeholders want
3.1 Policy change commissioning and delivery
The scope and pace of education policy change is unrelenting. Last year we took a close look with
our stakeholders at how we could make the policy change commissioning and delivery process work
better. The changes we introduced are already yielding real benefit.
There is more we want to do and we will continue to work closely with BIS and the Devolved
Administrations to develop the process further. In particular we aim to reduce delivery risk by providing
input to policy decisions at an early stage, to allow SLC sufficient time to plan, obtain and allocate
resources to meet delivery requirements (scope, time and budget). This will help ensure a safe service
for the AY 2014/15 and subsequent cycles. We will also provide expert delivery advice at the appropriate
level of detail at the right time.
In tandem, we are reviewing our approach to end-to-end change management, to continue to improve
the way we deliver SLC projects. This builds on work last year that highlighted issues inhibiting our
ability to implement change efficiently and effectively, and contributing to unnecessary delivery risk and
cost.
As part of this we will be looking to extend our current use of Agile development principles, in line with
Government digital delivery thinking, and to implement improvements throughout key stages, from
requirements definition and design to development and testing. We also plan to refine the way we
manage our change portfolio, to maintain a single view and ensure better prioritisation.
Implementing these changes will ensure that benefits are realised quickly, and the new ways of working
will be refined as we learn what works best for us.
17
3.2 HE Reforms for England
Last year saw the first cycle of the new HE funding
arrangements for England introduced successfully
and we intend to build on this to improve service to
students and HE providers this year. We will also
continue preparations for the new repayment collection
arrangements, which start in FY 2016-17, and support
BIS with debt sale preparations.
As a consequence of the HE reforms in
England, the bulk of funding that HE providers
will receive for teaching will migrate over the
next two years from block grants through
HEFCE to fees paid by students for learning,
supported by fee loans from SLC (see
Fig 4). It is absolutely critical that migration
of cash flows is smooth, and payment by
SLC accurate and reliable. The same applies
to fee payments for learning providers
following introduction of the 24+ Advanced
Learning Loan for FE.
Fig 4 Institutional funding shift 2
3.3 24+ Advanced Learning loan
In April 2013 we are launching the 24+ Advanced Learning Loan, in partnership with the Skills Funding
Agency. The provision of loans to support course costs is a new concept for the Further Education
sector. These loans are to be made available to people aged 24 and above at the start of their course.
The loans are not means-tested and will be paid directly to the learning provider.
In preparation, we have been developing information, advice and guidance (IAG) and building a new
IT delivery platform, extending existing systems such as scanning and imaging, and reusing current
interfaces with delivery partners, such as the Identity and Passport Service.
2: Source: Patterns and Trends in Higher Education, Universities UK 2012
18
3.4 Student Finance Wales Modernisation
We have been asked to manage and deliver a modernised student finance system for Wales, scheduled
to launch in February 2014.
This will involve transfer of student finance functions currently performed by Welsh Local Authorities to
SLC and co-location at a single site in Llandudno with SLC staff currently in our Colwyn Bay contact
centre. We will establish a full end-to-end operational service, including marketing and communications,
which delivers student finance to Welsh students in line with defined service levels. The service will be
bilingual.
We will also progress bilingual repayment to meet the requirements of the Welsh Language Act,
implement agreed HE reforms and respond to changes arising from regulatory framework revision.
3.5 SAAS Payment process
Currently SAAS manages the student finance application process for Scottish students up to the point
of confirming entitlement. SAAS then makes tuition fee payments on behalf of the student and pays
bursaries to individual students, while SLC makes the loan payments to students. This can cause
confusion to customers and we are in discussion with SAAS about transferring responsibility for loan
payment to them in time for AY 2014/15. SLC will continue to manage the repayment process.
3.6 Northern Ireland
As well as continuing to provide an efficient and effective payment and collection service for FY 201314 we will work closely with the Department for Employment and Learning to take forward priority work
to agreed delivery timelines. Changes to the Education Maintenance Allowance scheme have now
been finalised and we will progress the necessary development work to implement the policy changes
in time for AY 2013/14.
3.7 Repayment programme
We are currently finalising our strategic review of repayments, with input from HMRC. Ministers have
asked us to make repayment of loans a strategic priority this year, given its growing importance due to
the increasing size of the loan book following the HE reforms. We need to ensure that their HE reform
policies are delivered successfully and that collection through both HMRC and direct SLC channels
is optimised. The National Audit Office (NAO) will also be reviewing student loan repayments this year
(see section 6.6).
The strategic review reflects UK Government policy objectives, including the HE reforms and debt sale,
and identifies measures to improve collection performance, efficiency and cost reduction. It describes
where we want our repayment process to be in 4-5 years’ time, how we can respond most effectively
to the challenges ahead and what action we need to take. This is discussed further in section 6.5.
19
3.8 Debt sale
The mortgage-style loans (MSL) scheme was superseded in 1997 by the income-contingent repayment
(ICR) loans scheme and the remaining publicly-owned mortgage-style loans are a closed portfolio
of ageing debts that are becoming harder to collect with time. We are therefore working with BIS to
support the proposed sale of the mortgage-style loan book and to support preparations for any further
debt sale the Government may seek.
Our loan book modelling and repayment analysis capability will be enhanced to ensure that we have a
sound information base to support the MSL debt sale. Following any sale, we will redeploy MSL staff
to focus on collection within the main ICR loan book and recovery of grant overpayments.
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE 3
Execute our Delivery Programme to meet annual
policy changes and new stakeholder priorities
KEY ACTIVITIES FY 2013-14
•Launch the AY 2014/15 service successfully and on time
•Undertake a review of SLC’s end-to-end change process
and implement a new approach
•Deliver the remaining elements of the HE reform programme
•Launch and roll out the new FE 24+ Advanced Learning
Loan service
•Progress the Welsh Modernisation programme
•Implement arrangements to enable SAAS to make loan
payments
•Deliver committed change initiatives for DEL (NI)
•Implement projects in support of the strategic review of
repayments
•Support MSL debt sale arrangements
•Continue to support any preparatory ICR debt sale work
that may be required
APRA MEASURES
• Commissioning and Change Programme Delivery RAG
status
• None
INTERNAL MEASURES
20
4. Serving our customers
Delivering a ‘safe’ service and improving the customer experience
4.1 Delivering a ‘safe’ service
Over the last three years we have delivered a ‘safe’ service and demonstrated that we can introduce
and operate new services at the same time as providing our existing ones. In 2012 we rolled out the
first year of increased tuition fee loans and payments to HE providers, as well as launching the new loan
service for part-time students.
As described in section 2, we are working hard to ensure that our core systems continue to provide the
services we need pending replacement. We have also established stable mechanisms for delivering
services, with effective forecasting, resourcing, planning and process control. Individual Service
Delivery Plans describe in detail the approach adopted. These are refreshed each year following formal
‘lessons learnt’ exercises. This approach is continuing and processing for the AY 2013/14 service is
well underway.
Each year we provide a range of information and guidance for customers across various channels so
that they know what finance may be available and when they should apply. Feedback from customers
has indicated that the quality of information has improved significantly over the last two years and we
will continue to act on feedback, both from customers and other stakeholders.
4.2 Satisfying customers
We aim to ensure that the service we offer satisfies our customers by publishing timely and accurate
information, advice and guidance; by paying them the right amount of money on time; by taking correct
repayments; and by ensuring that when customers need to contact us they speak to knowledgeable,
helpful and friendly contact centre staff.
Customer surveys have shown a significant improvement in customer satisfaction over the last two
years. This is due to improving the quality of service, as well as ensuring that we meet volume processing
and call answering targets.
In order to ensure that service quality is sustained through controlled processes, we will continue to
develop a systematic approach to quality management. Data from quality checks at various stages in
the processes enable us to identify common errors and why we make them. We then seek to eliminate
these errors through various actions – supervision, training, coaching, procedural improvements and
system changes. We also actively capture ideas for service improvement from staff and, together with
feedback from customers and other stakeholders, we maintain a consolidated list of improvement
ideas which are progressed through various channels – programmes, projects, system changes and
line management action.
21
4.3 Listening to customers
Rebecca Clark thank you for your help sfe(Facebook
support) as having my questions answered directly here
has saved me having to call
Dasha Bennett
@sfengland twitter #customerservice is impeccable!!!
Best customer service I had in my 12 years of living here!
So pleased!
We seek feedback from customers – students and learners, their sponsors and repayers – and listen
to what they say. Our customer insight activities include surveys, research, focus groups, user testing
and call reasons analysis. In the past 12 months we have set up the Student Finance Lab to capture
the views of customers over a range of issues.
The Student Finance Lab is SLC’s on-line customer research panel. It has almost 3,000 members
covering new and continuing part-time and full-time students, sponsors and repayers from all over the
UK. We gather feedback from these customers on SLC’s products and services via on-line surveys
and discussions.
Since we launched our social media channels on Facebook and Twitter in 2011 this has proved an
extremely valuable source of information for and from customers, sponsors and stakeholders. Usage
of these channels has continued to grow (Fig 5).
Fig 5 Adoption of Student Finance on social media
22
The customer insight activities help keep the customers’ point of view in the forefront, ensuring that the
‘voice of the customer’ is a key factor in service design, project prioritisation and business decisionmaking. Analysis of call reasons enables us to identify how we can improve our systems and processes,
so that we can improve how we resolve customers’ queries, or provide the information on-line to make
it unnecessary for them to call in the first place.
Customer complaints provide invaluable insight into the errors we make. We seek to address each
individual complaint as fairly and quickly as possible, and if customers are still unhappy with our
response, there is an escalation route, ultimately resulting in adjudication by an Independent Assessor.
As well as addressing individual complaints, we carry out an analysis of trends, identifying the most
common reasons for complaint, and conduct detailed analysis to identify root causes. As a result
of this analysis we trigger improvement actions, which operational managers take forward through
procedural changes, coaching and training. If elimination of root causes requires system changes,
these are pursued through inclusion in projects and programmes wherever possible.
A priority this year is to increase our capability for root cause analysis and improve the way that this is
used to drive continuous improvement and therefore drive down the numbers of complaints we receive.
This year we intend to conduct a benchmarking exercise on the volumes of customer complaints and
how we handle them.
We have established a new customer experience forum to oversee consolidated action plans arising
from analysis of data from complaints, customer insight, surveys, quality measurements and other
relevant sources of information, which will raise the profile of the action we are taking to address
customers’ issues.
4.4 Listening to other stakeholders
Stakeholders play an extremely important role in the
development and delivery of our services and we have a
structured approach to consulting and working with them
through a series of engagement groups where they provide
insight and specialist expertise from their role in the HE or FE
sector. They provide input to service design, work with us on
service improvements, help with communications to students
and learners and highlight delivery issues from their experience
on the ground.
Our annual stakeholder survey in 2012 has shown an overall
increase in satisfaction compared to the previous year,
indicating that stakeholders continue to be positive about the
Company and the quality of the relationship developed with
them.
23
“I found everyone I have spoken to in
relation to Student Finance very
helpful, professional, understanding of
my queries. I have particularly found
the support provided by the speaker
who came to discuss his experiences
with the learners very helpful.”
“I have good working
relationships with senior
members of the SLC Board
and there are good links in
place within my team and
different areas within SLC”
Measures across the three key survey
indicators (which establish whether
stakeholders are likely to act as
advocates of the student finance service,
of SLC the organisation and how they
view the quality of their relationship
with SLC) have improved significantly
compared with the previous two years’
results (Fig 6).
We also aim to improve the service
we provide to HE and FE providers
by developing a new approach to
strategic relationship management (see
section 7.4).
Fig 6 Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey results
4.5 Improving the customer experience
Core Systems Replacement and Digital Delivery are key vehicles for improving the customer experience
through easier and faster processes via the development of new systems, and section 1.3 described
how we are prioritising business improvement initiatives that provide early benefit. We also recognise
the need to make efficiency savings at the same time as improving service and protecting safe delivery,
as part of our wider responsibility to reduce the Company’s operating costs.
Analysis of First Contact Resolution provides insight into why we fail to resolve customer enquiries
at the first pass and triggers management action and ideas for process and system improvement.
Analysis of Avoidable Contact provides insight into how we can improve processes to reduce the
number of telephone calls we receive and hence to reduce costs.
Sustained service improvement also depends, however, on the day-to-day teamwork between the
different departments within the Company, the strength of the ‘continuous improvement’ culture and
creating the necessary organisational capacity. Our aim in FY 2013-14 is to continue to embed this
culture across the organisation through Leading the Way. Everyone in the Company has a role to play
in improving quality, by doing their job to the best of their ability and seeking ways to do it better for
the benefit of the customer.
24
4.6 Marketing and Communications
Our first Marketing and Communications Strategy was created shortly after the Directorate was formed
two years ago and set out a 5-year strategic plan. However, in light of significant changes – SLC’s
transformation plans, digital delivery, new products and customers, the strategic review of repayments
and the additional campaign and IAG work being undertaken for the Welsh Modernisation Project – the
Marketing and Communications Strategy will be reviewed in FY 2013-14 to ensure we remain targeted
and fully effective in all aspects of strategic communications delivery.
As part of this review we will be looking at the SLC corporate, service and product brands, and
considering the impact on customer and stakeholder understanding.
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE 4
Provide a safe and efficient student finance service
that meets the needs and expectations of our
customers and stakeholders, and continue to
improve the customer experience
KEY ACTIVITIES FY 2013-14
•Provide IAG on student finance that meets customers’
needs
•Process applications, pay students and providers, and
administer repayment collection with HMRC in line with
agreed service standards
•Sustain customer satisfaction by fulfilling our promises
•Capture and act on feedback from our customers
•Improve root cause analysis of complaints and benchmark
complaint volumes
•Enhance relationships with HE and FE providers within a
broader, refreshed stakeholder engagement strategy
•Build on Leading the Way practice to embed a continuous
improvement culture
•Review our Marketing and Communications strategy
• Overall customer satisfaction
• Complaints handling
• Core processing timeliness (England only)
• Targeted support (England only)
• Contact performance
• Customer communications (England only)
• On-line take-up (England only)
• 24+ Advanced Learning Loan processing timeliness
(England only)
• Provide agreed services to Devolved Administrations and
Learning Providers: Performance v SLA
APRA MEASURES
INTERNAL MEASURES
• Delivery partner performance
• ICT systems availability
• Avoidable Contact
• First Contact Resolution
25
5. Managing our people
Investing in our people and equipping them to deliver the best possible service
5.1 Improving our ways of working
We will invest in our people to deliver the best
possible service for our customers. We require a
better-aligned, more collegiate culture, where we
expect excellence, where people work together to
do what is best for customers in the most efficient
way possible, where challenge to improve and
innovate is welcomed and where colleagues are
empowered and trusted to do what is right.
Setting a clear set of shared priorities for delivery
and transformation, and communicating and
translating them into improved ways of working, will
be supported through rigorous implementation of
the performance management process. Achieving
consistency of how we do business with each
other and with stakeholders, and strengthening
our management of performance, will be achieved
through adoption of our Leading the Way
commitments, which spell out the attitude, approach
and positive ways of working that SLC is seeking as
its cultural brand. We will continue to promote
diversity and inclusion within our workforce.
Fig 7 Leading the Way framework
5.2 Developing our leaders and managers
With a fast-moving, innovating and transforming organisation comes the requirement for excellence in
leadership and management. We will invest heavily in developing better leadership to take us through
change and improving managerial skill to fully support our people as well as provide stable and excellent
operational delivery. Measurement of managerial performance will be equally focused on leadership
and delivery.
5.3 Planning our resources
Delivering the public service efficiencies agenda requires tight resource management, new approaches
to our working practices and careful workforce management as new systems, digital services and
working practices demand changes to the shape and size of our workforce over the coming years.
Honesty, engagement, investment in staff and careful forward planning are key to success (see
section 7.1).
26
5.4 Managing the change in pension arrangements
We need to take account of the significant changes that are taking place in pensions across the public
sector. Firstly, we are required to enrol all employees into a workplace pension scheme by August 2013
(‘auto-enrolment’) and will be communicating our plans to all staff well in advance of that date.
Secondly, we are proposing to amend SLC’s existing pension scheme in response to the significant
deficit and increases in the costs of that scheme. Changes will be in line with recommendations being
adopted elsewhere in the public sector, with the key objectives being to provide a more affordable
pension cost for the Company and to continue to provide an attractive defined benefit scheme for
members. Consultation with our trade union (PCS) and staff will commence in Autumn 2013, with
changes anticipated to be implemented in November 2014.
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE 5
Manage our people responsibly and continue to
embed our Leading the Way framework
KEY ACTIVITIES FY 2013-14
•Communicate to staff a clear, shared vision of the future for
SLC, setting out clear priorities for the organisation, and
how teams and individuals contribute to achievement of it
•Build on our Leading the Way commitments, measuring
managers and staff on how, as well as what, they deliver
•Continue to develop resource planning to achieve a fit-forpurpose organisational design and structure and to meet the
efficiencies agenda
•Continue to invest in, build and deliver development
programmes that maximise the skill, knowledge and
contribution of staff
•Build leadership and management capability and address
performance issues
•Continue to build recognition of staff and teams
•Introduce auto-enrolment and other required pensions
initiatives
•Continue our close working relationship with our trade union
• None
APRA MEASURES
INTERNAL MEASURES
Capacity
• Sickness
• Turnover
Capability
• Implementation of learning plans
• Evaluation of learning plan effectiveness
Culture
• People Insight Survey (monitoring the extent to which our
Leading the Way framework is embedded – NB to be
baselined in FY 2013-14)
27
6. Managing public money
Using stakeholders’ money wisely and getting the most out of it for them
6.1 Delivering value for money
As custodians of public funds we must deliver value for money, operating at all times in accordance
with the standards set out in HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money and maintaining strong internal
controls.
As with all public sector organisations we are required to deliver budget reductions being demanded
across Government, and so we will be taking a close look at how we can do things smarter and more
efficiently. We have already started this process and have seen significant budget reductions in certain
areas.
We are expecting greatly improved efficiency through successful implementation of the Transformation
Programme, delivering the anticipated benefits in customer service, efficiency and reduced costs. We
will continue to deliver the company-wide Efficiency / Value for Money Programme, which will include
specific initiatives delivered by ring-fenced resources. We expect our continued focus on improving
quality, with associated reduction in cost due to a lower requirement for rework, to reduce call volumes
and lead to fewer complaints to manage.
We also expect to drive greater value and innovation through our relationships with suppliers and
achieve more for the money available to us.
6.2 New accountability arrangements for HE funding
3
BIS’s White Paper sets out the Government’s vision for a flexible, competitive and innovative HE
system that responds to the needs of students and puts them at its heart. The changes are profound:
funding that follows the student, increasing diversity of HE provision, a more level playing field for
providers, and enhanced tools and support to help students make informed decisions on their choice
of course and provider.
As funding shifts over the next few years, away from block grants for HE providers towards higher
fees paid by students supported by Government-backed loans, the role of SLC becomes increasingly
central. HE providers will rely on us for timely and accurate payment of a greater proportion of their
revenue and effective stakeholder relationship management will be essential (section 7.4).
We are also working closely with HEFCE, BIS and sector organisations to establish appropriate
accountability arrangements to protect both the student and the public purse, and to ensure that the
Government’s vision to put the student at the heart of the system is realised as fully as possible.
This will require developing a successor to HEFCE’s current Financial Memorandum for HE providers.
Together with HEFCE we co-chair the Regulatory Partnership Group (RPG), set up to advise Ministers
on implementation of regulatory reforms to underpin the White Paper and Technical Consultation, and
will be taking forward approved RPG proposals during the year. This may result in some reallocation of
existing responsibilities for SLC and/or take-on of new duties but we do not envisage any fundamental
change to our core role. Further work may also arise from BIS’s recent consultation on applying student
number controls to alternative providers with designated courses.
3 Higher Education: Students at the Heart of the System, BIS, June 2011
28
6.3 Accurate forecasting
We will continue to provide accurate forecasts of loans and grants expenditure, enabling improved
financial planning by Government Administrations, cash flow management and tracking of take-up
against forecast.
6.4 Driving down fraud
Our application and assessment processes are designed and operated to establish eligibility and
entitlement correctly, and to make student support payments securely and on time. In addition to
reducing fraud and error through our core operational processes, we also strive to drive down the level
of fraud through a range of specialist counter-fraud tools and techniques, drawing on the knowledge
and skills of our Special Investigations Unit.
Last year we piloted the use of additional counter-fraud tools successfully. This resulted in a significant
increase in the total level of stopped fraudulent payments, demonstrating an excellent return on the
resources that were invested in this work. This in turn has served to increase the level of stakeholder
confidence in our counter-fraud arrangements, and the initiative has been recognised within Government
as an important step forward, not least through our active engagement with the Cabinet Office’s Fraud,
Error and Debt Taskforce.
During the forthcoming year we will continue to explore with BIS how we can build on our experience
and drive down fraud in the student finance system further still.
29
6.5 Maximising loan repayment
Ministers have asked us to make repayment of loans a strategic priority this year, to ensure that their
HE reform policies are delivered successfully and that, as the number of borrowers in repayment,
size of loan and Government outlay all increase, collection through HMRC and direct SLC channels
is optimised. Collection effectiveness will have a bearing on the value of the loan book and revenue
streams in the event of debt sale and maximising loan repayment is therefore critically important.
All Government Administrations need SLC and HMRC to administer collection arrangements effectively
across an increasingly diverse and complex product set, ensuring that borrowers repay the correct
amount and cannot avoid their obligations. SLC’s role here is primarily one of loan management and
administration, maintaining accurate and up-to-date customer information and accounts, posting
repayments collected by HMRC to loan accounts and applying interest correctly. We are, however,
responsible for collecting directly from customers who live abroad – a group that will continue to increase
and attract attention as the loan book grows. We also collect directly where student support has been
overpaid as a result of changed personal circumstances, and from any remaining MSL customers.
Our internal processes need to improve continuously and we have identified a range of customer service
and efficiency initiatives we wish to pursue. Effective collection relies not only on rigorous, efficient,
high-volume automated processes but also high-quality information, and it is essential that we make
it as easy as possible for customers to manage their accounts and transact with us. Customer insight
and engagement are providing us with a deeper understanding of customers’ needs and expectations.
These now need to be translated into tangible service improvement.
Our strategic review of repayments describes our vision for the repayment service in five years’ time,
reflecting these three perspectives – Government Administration, delivery organisation and customer.
Proposed or planned initiatives are mapped to our repayment goals for 2017: increase revenue
collection; improve on-line service; improve IAG; improve data and information handling; and deliver
mandatory change. The initiatives are listed overleaf.
30
Strategic Repayments Review Initiatives
Goal
1. Increase revenue
collection
Initiative
• PayPal
• Review of multiple employments
• Self-Assessed Prevent Over-Repayments
• Review of EU and overseas letters
• Redeployment of collections MSL Resource
2. Improve on-line service • Redesign of the repayment website and portal
• On-line statements
• Secure email for overseas borrowers
• On-line Change Of Customer Details (COCD)/ Overseas Assessment
forms
• On-line direct debits
3. Improve IAG
• Repayments communications strategy
• Review of all repayment correspondence
4. Improve data and
• Real Time Information
information handling
• Department of Work and Pensions data matching
• Automated trivial balance write-offs
• Collections data cleansing
• Electronic transfer of COCD information to HMRC
5. Deliver mandatory
• SAAS pay loans
change
• MSL debt sale
• 24+ Advanced Learning Loan
• Core System Replacement procurement and build
• Preparatory ICR debt sale work (support as required)
• HE reforms
• Part-time loans
6.6 National Audit Office review of student loans repayments
The NAO will be carrying out a review of student loan repayments, publishing its findings at the end
of Autumn 2013. The study falls under the NAO’s Value for Money programme and will consider BIS’s
success to date in collecting repayments due on student loans made since 1990-91. It will examine in
depth the arrangements overseen by BIS and SLC, and discussions are underway with the NAO on the
detail of the review.
31
6.7 Benchmarking the cost of student loan processing
The Cabinet Office has published an update to its Transactions Explorer tool. This now contains data
on the cost per transaction for 44 of the biggest services the Government offers the public, including
the student finance service. Making this data public is a big step forward in transparency and sets
a baseline for service performance. The public can – and should – judge our progress on improving
against this baseline. It is no coincidence that those who have made the biggest strides on-line have
some of the lowest costs. Doing things digitally is simpler, better, faster and cheaper. We will use the
information from this publication and other sources to benchmark our processes against best practice,
so helping us to move towards being a centre of excellence, as highlighted in our Vision statement.
We will also continue to contribute to the Government’s transparency agenda, unlocking our data and
making it available to the public in popular formats to enable them to hold politicians and public bodies
to account for their performance and improve value for money further.
6.8 Supporting the Government’s shared services initiatives
Shared services will play a key role in the way that public services are delivered in the future. For BIS,
this means using existing assets and resources to establish a programme that will deliver a structural
reduction in the cost base by providing simpler and integrated processes across the BIS family of
organisations, of which SLC is part. BIS have selected Research Councils UK Ltd, also part of the
BIS family, with specialist expertise in this area, to be the shared service provider for BIS and partner
organisations. The transition of some of SLC’s transactional finance, human resources, procurement
and estate management activities is part of this programme. We will continue to work closely with BIS
to support successful delivery. Working in partnership with PCS, we will keep our staff fully informed.
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE 6
Manage public money responsibly
KEY ACTIVITIES FY 2013-14
•Deliver agreed services within the budget as per the APRA
letter
•Deliver the Efficiency / Value for Money programme
•Prepare for budget pressures in subsequent years
•Through the Regulatory Partnership Group (RPG) define and
take forward proposals to ensure proper HE accountability
arrangements are maintained
•Continue to monitor and drive down fraud and error
•Manage loan books efficiently and effectively while assisting
BIS and HM Treasury in the sale of these books
•Support the forthcoming NAO review of student loan
repayments
•Participate in BIS’s shared services programme
• Assessment and payment accuracy (England only)
• Fraud and error
• Delivery within agreed budget
• Loans and grants expenditure forecasting accuracy
• Repayment of Income-Contingent Repayment loans
• Repayment of Mortgage-Style loans (England, Northern
Ireland, Scotland only)
• Recovery of Grant Overpayments (England, Northern
Ireland, Wales only)
• None
APRA MEASURES
INTERNAL MEASURES
32
7. Leadership Team priorities
Sections 1 to 6 of this Plan have described the key business objectives for the Company. Alongside
these, our Leadership Team – the Executive – will be paying close attention to a number of strategic
priorities that underpin the objectives and that will require collegiate ownership and action by it.
7.1 Delivering our Vision and aligning our approach with Leading the Way
The particularly challenging environment in which all public sector bodies are now operating means
going back to first principles and re-examining not just what we do now, and our current ways of doing
it, but radically re-evaluating the full potential of our organisation and making the case with Government
for what we could do.
We believe strongly that there will be no shortage of opportunity for an organisation that delivers
excellent customer service, offers outstanding value to Government and responds to its changing
needs positively and dynamically. And this needs our vision to be coupled with outstanding leadership,
harnessing the knowledge, skill, enthusiasm and commitment of our people through Leading the Way.
7.2 Reviewing our organisational design to align with our transformation work and to ensure it remains fit-for-purpose
Being clear about our purpose and long-term ambition will help us determine which activities we need
to excel at, and which may be better performed for us by others; and how to connect the components
to enable them to work most effectively together to deliver seamless high-quality service.
7.3 Creating an effective, integrated framework for corporate, business
and financial planning
Consequently, during the year ahead, we will be rethinking our planning processes carefully. Aligning
our resources, our effort and our will to a compelling vision will demand a company-wide planning
framework that sets out what each of us needs to achieve individually, how we support each other and
how everything we do integrates without friction so that we can fulfil our full potential as an exemplary
public service organisation.
33
7.4
Developing a stronger approach to strategic relationship
management
The nature of the stakeholder landscape for SLC is changing as a result of the 2012 HE reform
programme. In particular, relationships with HE providers and the governing and representative bodies
in the HE sector are evolving to meet the changed delivery landscape and funding flows (section 6.2).
Ministers have specifically asked us to consider our relationships with HE providers. At the same time
new relationships are being built with FE providers. In addition, the changing shape of student finance
provision in the four UK Government Administrations is leading to a need for more diverse approaches
to these Administrations and the services we provide for them. Connections with other parts of the HE
and FE sectors and key suppliers are changing and a broad approach to our stakeholder landscape is
required. The importance of ensuring that we understand our stakeholders and communicate clearly
with them in the right way and at the right time has never been greater.
An approach to stakeholder management through the stakeholder forums and a range of other
mechanisms has been in place for several years and some strategic principles have been set out in the
Marketing and Communications Strategy but a comprehensive review of these arrangements to reflect
the changing landscape is now appropriate.
The review is intended to produce a comprehensive three-year stakeholder engagement strategy,
with agreed processes for an annual review. The strategy should set out the objectives which the
engagement strategy is designed to support, the various methods by which it will be delivered, the
organisational and individual responsibilities for delivery and the measures by which improvement will
be tracked and reported.
7.5 Exploring new opportunities for growth, to leverage our existing
and emerging unique capabilities
Replacing our core systems and transforming our delivery capability will create an invaluable asset for
Government and we are keen to ensure that the return on their investment is maximised. This means
looking beyond what we do currently and being prepared to step outside our traditional remit where it
makes sense to do so.
By 2015 we will have created a highly cost-effective, state of the art customer-led, digital application
processing, payment and accounting capability that can be reused elsewhere. We will remain alert to
opportunities and, where appropriate, seek to explore these further with Government as our longerterm strategy develops.
34
ANNEX 1: Planning framework
Three interlinking documents form the foundation of the current planning framework (Fig 8):
• the annual Business Plan (this document), which sets out what we intend to do in the financial year
• the Budget, which sets out the resources allocated
• the Balanced Scorecard, which sets out our performance measures and targets and allows us to track performance
Stakeholder Requirements
SLC Delivery Strategy 2011-15
Transform
Sustain
Deliver
ICT, People & MarComms Strategies
APRA
2013-14
SLC Business Plan 2013-14
Budget FY 2013-14
Balanced Scorecard
Service
Delivery
Plans
Performance Management
Fig 8 SLC Planning Framework
The context for these documents is provided by:
•the SLC Delivery Strategy 2011-15, which sets out our overall direction of travel
•our supporting strategies for ICT, Marketing and Communications, and People
•our Annual Performance and Review Agreement (APRA), which is the formal agreement between
Government and SLC and defines targets and resources
•our Transformation, Sustain and Delivery programme plans
•our Service Delivery plans for the AY 2013/14 operational cycle
35
The Business Plan is the definitive reference point for the Company’s objectives. Six key business
objectives have been declared for FY 2013-14. Although broadly similar in scope to the nine objectives
declared for FY 2012-13, the opportunity has been taken to re-focus our priorities for the coming year.
The performance measures and targets are largely unchanged since last year but have been re-aligned
to the six key business objectives for FY 2013-14 and re-calibrated to our budget settlement. These
are described in Annex 4.
The key business objectives set out in the Business Plan will be cascaded down to each individual’s
personal objectives via the performance management system. This ensures alignment of individual
objectives to business goals.
36
Annex 2. Key business objectives
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
1. Progress our business
Transformation Programme
ACTIVITY
•Complete the Core Systems Replacement (CSR)
procurement process through to contract award
•Complete delivery of the new digital services for HE parttime and Further Education (FE) 24+ Advanced Learning
Loan
•Establish the business improvement framework within the
Transformation Programme
•Establish the organisational design workstream to design
a fit-for-purpose future business model
•Prepare the organisation for migration of agreed activities
to shared services
2. Sustain critical business processes •Ensure SLC’s current ICT systems, processes and
and systems for the duration of
infrastructure remain reliable and fit for the purpose of
the Transformation Programme to
delivering a safe and effective student finance service
ensure a safe service
•Develop an effective workflow solution, starting with
the imaging platform, to streamline the application
assessment process
•Complete the data centre contract process and
commence migration of systems
•Complete the planning process for business continuity
and align business continuity and IT disaster recovery
plans
•Target and address stabilisation issues on other business
systems until core systems are replaced
•Maintain interim technology roadmaps for business
systems that match business demands until core systems
are replaced
3. Execute our Delivery Programme
•Launch the AY 2014/15 service successfully and on time
to meet annual policy changes and •Undertake a review of SLC’s end-to-end change process
new stakeholder priorities
and implement a new approach
•Deliver the remaining elements of the HE reform
programme
•Launch and roll out the new FE 24+ Advanced Learning
Loan service
•Progress the Welsh Modernisation programme
•Implement arrangements to enable SAAS to make loan
payments
•Deliver committed change initiatives for DEL (NI)
•Implement projects in support of the strategic review of
repayments
•Support MSL debt sale arrangements
•Continue to support any preparatory ICR debt sale work
that may be required
37
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
ACTIVITY
4. Provide a safe and efficient student •Provide IAG on student finance that meets customers’
finance service that meets the
needs
needs and expectations of our
•Process applications, pay students and providers, and
customers and stakeholders, and
administer repayment collection with HMRC in line with
continue to improve the customer
agreed service standards
experience
•Sustain customer satisfaction by fulfilling our promises
•Capture and act on feedback from our customers
•Improve root cause analysis of complaints and
benchmark complaint volumes
•Enhance relationships with HE and FE providers within a
broader, refreshed stakeholder engagement strategy
•Build on Leading the Way practice to embed a continuous
improvement culture
•Review our Marketing and Communications strategy
5. Manage our people responsibly
•Communicate to staff a clear, shared vision of the future
and continue to embed our Leading
for SLC, setting out clear priorities for the organisation,
the Way framework
and how teams and individuals contribute to achievement
of it
•Build on our Leading the Way commitments, measuring
managers and staff on how, as well as what, they deliver
•Continue to develop resource planning to achieve a fitfor-purpose organisational design and structure and to
meet the efficiencies agenda
•Continue to invest in, build and deliver development
programmes that maximise the skill, knowledge and
contribution of staff
•Build leadership and management capability and address
performance issues
•Continue to build recognition of staff and teams
•Introduce auto-enrolment and other required pensions
initiatives
•Continue our close working relationship with our trade
union
6. Managing public money
•Deliver agreed services within the budget as per the
responsibly
APRA letter
•Deliver the Efficiency / Value for Money programme
•Prepare for budget pressures in subsequent years
•Through the Regulatory Partnership Group (RPG)
define and take forward proposals to ensure proper HE
accountability arrangements are maintained
•Continue to monitor and drive down fraud and error
•Manage loan books efficiently and effectively while
assisting BIS and HM Treasury in the sale of these books
•Support the forthcoming NAO review of student loan
repayments
•Participate in BIS’s shared services programme
38
14 Wales
13 Scotland
12 Northern Ireland
11 24+ Application Processing
( g)
Timeliness (Eng)
10 Online Take-up (Eng)
9 Customer Communications
(Eng)
G
G
G
G
G
AR
È
G
G
7 Targeted Support Processing
Timeliness (Eng)
8 Contact Performance (Eng)
G
AR
6 Core Application Processing
Timeliness (Eng)
5 Complaints Handling (UK)
G
Ç
G
G
Ç
G
G
GA
G
G
G
GA
GA
G
GA
G
G
GA
G
G
G
GA
È
G
20
19
18
17
16
15
13
12
11
10
9
GA
GA
GA
R
È
G
G
GA
GA
YE
G
Ç
Ç
G
G
GA
AR
È
GA
(Nov)
G
Ç
G
GA
AR
GA
APRA measures shown in Red
Non-APRA measures shown in Black
28 Recovery of Grant
Overpayments (E, W & NI)
27 Repayment of Mortgage
Style Loans (Eng, NI & Sco)
GA
GA
GA
GA
25 Loans & Grants Expenditure
Forecasting Accuracy (UK)
N/A N/A N/A
26 Repayment of Income
Contingent Loans (UK and EU) GA GA GA
24 Delivery within Agreed
Budget
B
d t (UK)
23 Fraud (UK)
22 Assessment And Payment
Accuracy (Eng)
Objective 6 - Manage Public Money responsibly
GA
21 Capability Capacity And
Culture (UK)
G
4 Overall Customer
Satisfaction (UK)
G
Objective 5 - Manage our people responsibly
AR
Objective 4 - Safe and efficient service
8
R
GA
20 First Contact Resolution
(Eng)
GA
GA
G
G
3 Commissioning & Change
Programme Delivery (UK)
G
G
R
18 ICT Systems Availability
(UK)
È
7
GA
R
G
G
GA
È
G
17 Delivery Partner
Performance (UK)
16 FE Learning Providers
G
19 Avoidable Contact (Eng)
(Quarterly)
G
6
Objective 3 - Delivery Programme
2 Sustain Programme (UK)
Objective 2 - Sustain Programme
G
15 Higher Education
Institutions
G
G
Month YTD
1 Transformation Programme
(UK)
Page
Objective 4 - Safe and efficient service (cont.)
YE
Objective 1 - Transformation Programme
Month YTD
FY 2013-14: December 2013 and Q3 performance, for Main Board meeting on Tuesday 28 January 2014
SLC Balanced Scorecard
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
39
RAG assessments in the MI pack are based on
judgement. For the scorecard, the rules agreed in the
APRA are used.
The MI packk iis weekly,
Th
kl SFE
SFE-based,
b
d and
d aligned
li
d to
t the
th
academic year. The scorecard is monthly, over the
financial year, and covers all domiciles.
CAUTION
There are sound reasons why aspects of this report may
differ from the MI Pack, and both are valid.
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This commentary will focus on relevant issues for the
month. Any graphics or illustrations used may also vary.
However, metrics that are at red or amber-red will always
be addressed.
Page Measures at red or amber-red
ANNEX 3: Balanced Scorecard illustration
N/A - Not applicable
Red (unacceptable)
Amber-Red (significantly
below target)
Green-Amber (below target)
Green (the target to be met)
KEY
AR
Ç
GA
Ç
G
Ç
Up
N/A
R
AR
GA
G
R
È
AR
È
GA
È
Same Down
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dolore magna aliqua.
Other points to note
Some measures have a green "headline" RAG status,
but contain individual components that are red or
amber-red, as follows:
Annex 4. Balanced Scorecard targets
The Balanced Scorecard contains APRA targets that have been agreed with BIS and internal targets
agreed and monitored by SLC’s Main Board. During FY 2013-14 we will review our Balanced Scorecard
and move towards a more strategic set of measures for next year to support our Transformation
Programme.
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
TARGETS
1. Progress our business
Transformation Programme
APRA
None
Internal
Transformation Programme Delivery
• GREEN against evaluation criteria established
by the SRO / Programme Board
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
TARGETS
2. Sustain critical business processes and systems
for the duration of the Transformation
Programme to ensure a safe service
APRA
None
Internal
Sustain Programme Delivery
• GREEN against evaluation criteria established
by the SRO / Programme Board
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
TARGETS
3. Execute our Delivery Programme to meet annual
policy changes and new stakeholder priorities
APRA
Commissioning & Change Programme
Delivery
• GREEN against evaluation criteria
Internal
None
40
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
4. Provide a safe and efficient student
finance service that meets the
needs and expectations of our
customers and stakeholders, and
continue to improve the customer
experience
TARGETS
APRA
Overall Customer Satisfaction
•≥2012-13 out-turn + 0.5% points.
Complaints Handling
•Substantive response to complaints within 15 working
days of receipt: ≥ 85%
•Substantive responses within 20 working days of receipt:
≥ 95%
Core processing timeliness (England only)
•% of core applications, new and continuing, received
before the deadline processed before the start of term: ≥
99%
•% of applications, new and continuing, received before
and after the deadline, processed within x working days:
≥ 70% applications processed in 20 days and ≥ 95%
within 30 days
•% of financial evidence assessed to confirm full
entitlement within 20 days of evidence being received
where it is not provided with the application: ≥ 95%
Targeted support (England only)
•DSA applications processed within 2 weeks of receipt: ≥
95%
•DSA needs assessment reports processed within 2
weeks: ≥ 95%
•CCG applications with estimated costs processed within
4 weeks: ≥ 95%
•CCG applications with actual costs processed within 4
weeks of receipt: ≥ 95%
Contact Performance
•% Calls Answered: ≥ 90% (average), and ≥ 70% (floor, for
each 2 week interval across the year)
•Customer Experience – advisor: ≥ 12-13 target plus 2%
points i.e. 83% or 12-13 out-turn if it is higher
•Customer Experience – outcome: ≥ 12-13 target plus 2%
points i.e. 76% or 12-13 out-turn if it is higher
•Customer Experience – consistency: ≥ 12-13 target i.e.
80% or 12-13 out-turn if it is higher
41
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
TARGETS
4. Provide a safe and efficient
student finance service
that meets the needs and
expectations of our customers
and stakeholders, and
continue to improve the
customer experience
Customer Communications (England only)
•Satisfaction with channel and timeliness of IAG: ≥ 63%
On-line Take-up (England only)
•On-line Take-up – Students: ≥ 91%
•On-line Take-up – Sponsors: ≥ 65%
24+ Advanced Learning Loan Processing Timeliness
(England only)
•On-line applications - % of all on-line applications which do not
require any physical evidence, and have successfully passed the
IPS check will be processed within 5 working days of receipt: ≥
95 % in 5 working days
•On-line applications - % of all on-line applications requiring any
manual check of physical evidence will be processed within 20
working days of receipt by SFE: ≥ 95 % in 20 working days
•Paper applications - % of all paper applications will be processed
within 20 working days of receipt by SFE: ≥ 95% in 20 working
days
•Change of circumstances - % of all on-line Change of
Circumstances submitted on-line via the Learning Provider
Portal or the Customer Portal will be processed within 5 working
days of receipt by SFE: ≥ 95% in 5 working days
•Change of circumstances - % of all paper Change of
Circumstance forms submitted by the Learner will be processed
within 20 working days of receipt by SFE: ≥ 95% in 20 working
days
Provide agreed services to Devolved Administrations and
Learning Providers: Performance v SLA
•Northern Ireland: only minor elements of the service agreement
not met
•Scotland: only minor elements of the service agreement not met
•Wales: only minor elements of the service agreement not met
•HEIs: only minor elements of the service agreement not met
•FE Learning Providers: only minor elements of the service
agreement not met
Internal
Delivery partner performance
•Achieve a weighted RAG status of GREEN across the 9 services
that comprise delivery partner performance
ICT Systems Availability
•Achieve a weighted RAG status of GREEN for the availability of
the key systems
Avoidable Contact
•Avoidable Contact to be no more than 55% of calls.
•Achieve a reduction in Avoidable Contact volumes against FY
2012-13.
First Contact Resolution
•Achieve a First Contact Resolution rate which is 3% points
higher than the FY 2012-13 out-turn
42
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
TARGETS
5. Manage our people responsibly
APRA
and continue to embed our Leading
None
the Way framework
Internal
Capacity
•Sickness absence targets that take into account Chartered
Institute of Personnel and Development and contact centre
benchmark data i.e.
•Support Services ≤ 3%
•Operations ≤ 6%
•Turnover to be kept between the FY 2012-13 out-turn plus
0.5% points and the FY 2012-13 out-turn plus 5.5% points
Capability
•GREEN against criteria for creation and delivery of learning
plans
•GREEN against criteria for evaluation of learning plan
effectiveness
Culture
•Embedding of the corporate culture envisaged in the
Leading the Way framework - with performance to
baselined using a new People Insight Survey
43
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
6. Manage public money responsibly
TARGETS
APRA
Assessment and payment accuracy (England only)
•Predicted Payment Accuracy (financial variance): ≤ ±0.5%
Fraud and error
•Identify at least the same number of cases as in FY12-13
where erroneous payments are prevented as a result of
fraud monitoring
Delivery within agreed budget
•Delivery within agreed budget : year-end outturn between
a -1% underspend and zero overspend against the
agreed mid-year budget
•Development of unit cost measurement for FY 2014-15:
Progress GREEN against agreed milestones
Loans and grants expenditure forecasting accuracy
•In year forecasting accuracy (mid year): loans ± 2.25%,
grants ±1.75%
•In year forecasting accuracy (9 month): loans ±1%, grants
±0.75%
Repayment of Income-Contingent Repayment loans
•% borrowers in repayment channel (UK & EU incoming
cohort): ≥ 96.5%
•% UK resident borrowers in repayment channel (past
cohorts): ≥ 98.8 %
•% past cohorts – UK borrowers who moved
overseas: ≥ 73.5%
•% past cohorts – EU borrowers who moved
overseas: ≥53.5 %
Repayment of Mortgage-Style loans (England, Northern
Ireland, Scotland only)
•% MS loan accounts not in arrears: ≥ 91.5%
•% MS loan accounts less than 24 months in arrears and
are repaying: ≥ 28.4%
•MS loan accounts <24 months in arrears – average
monthly repayment over the year: ≥ £56.34
Recovery of Grant Overpayments (England, Northern
Ireland, Wales only)
•Average monthly recovery over the year: ≥ £38.43
•% Grant overpayments accounts making a payment: ≥
29.02% with the target being raised potentially as high as
33.41% if a MSL Debt Sale frees up resources
Internal
None
44
Annex 5. Key risk themes
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
1. Progress our business
Transformation Programme
RISK THEME
Due to complexities in undertaking and implementing the
Company’s strategic objectives through the Transformation
Programme, and the tight timescales involved in delivering
the key components, there will be challenges inherent
to scheduling, specification and integration across the
business.
The Company will employ a consistent approach to the
management of major programmes to avoid potential
misalignment between these programmes, particularly for the
key risks, dependencies and the governance that underpin
them. It will be vital to ensure that key resources are not
diverted from the Transformation Programme, and that the
critical path activities for the CSR programme are protected.
2. Sustain critical business processes A holistic approach to sustaining and maintaining business
and systems for the duration of
operational stability is essential to ensure we continue to
the Transformation Programme to
meet the needs of customers and stakeholders until the
ensure a safe service
Transformation Programme has been completed.
3. Execute our Delivery Programme
to meet annual policy changes and
new stakeholder priorities
SLC will continue with CLASS sustaining activities;
developing business continuity / disaster recovery capabilities
to ensure resilience of systems and processes; progressing
the move to new data centres; and meeting and maintaining
our information security obligations in line with industry
standards.
The complex and concurrent nature of the Delivery
Programme and the need to keep our resources aligned
with business requirements may challenge our ability to
deliver all of our Government stakeholders’ requirements
and expectations alongside the Sustain and Transformation
Programmes.
We will continue work to enhance and improve our end-toend change management arrangements and capabilities and
will work closely with our key Government stakeholders to
manage the overall level of change.
45
KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
RISK THEME
4. Provide a safe and efficient
student finance service
that meets the needs and
expectations of our customers
and stakeholders, and
continue to improve the
customer experience
Alignment of resourcing priorities and procedures as we progress
our Transformation Programme objectives may be problematic
and could present some significant challenges within operational
areas, where the balance of permanent and temporary staff can
impact overall performance, and in support areas, where an
increase in activity may be experienced as a result.
5. Manage our people
responsibly and continue to
embed our Leading the Way
framework
Without support from the Company as a whole there may be
difficulties in fully implementing systems and process changes
crucial to the Transformation Programme.
To maintain and improve customer experience, service efficiency
and reduce Avoidable Contact, the Company will enhance its web
presence and usability, continue to improve on-line information,
implement service improvements, drive down system defects and
seek to introduce more efficient means of delivery.
Further embedding of our ‘Leading the Way’ framework, having an
agile medium term resourcing plan and a cohesive approach to the
ongoing development of our people will be key factors in making
this a success. We will review SLC’s sourcing model to ensure
we have the capacity and capability needed to deliver the whole
Change Programme. Early engagement with our Government
stakeholders is required to enable effective forward programme
planning.
For some key elements of our plans, there is a requirement for
specialist knowledge to complement SLC’s existing resources,
and the loss of critical IR35 status individuals will have a broad
impact on our progress against the Company’s key objectives.
This will be difficult to mitigate in the short term, and will require
close management in the first part of the year.
6. Manage public money
responsibly
We must meet our responsibilities for managing public funds
effectively and efficiently, both for the funding required to deliver
the services that we provide, and also in terms of the customer
payments and repayments that we handle on behalf of our
stakeholders. In addition, we recognise that spending restrictions
and approval processes within Government are often timeconsuming and may compromise our ability to complete key
business objectives.
We will work hard to achieve the necessary efficiency savings to meet
our spending targets arising from the Spending Review process.
SLC will continue to focus on improving accuracy, reducing error,
actively countering fraudulent activity and maximising repayments.
The Company will liaise with key Government stakeholders at the
earliest possible time, and also ensure that appropriate forward
plans are put in place wherever possible.
46
Annex 6. Funding requirement
Funding Breakdown
The figures in the table below show the funding being granted to SLC for FY 2013-14, as confirmed in
the Annual Performance and Resource Agreement.
SLC Funding Table
Funding Category
Non-Ringfenced Resource
(DEL and Capital DEL
available for FY 2013-14)
BIS HE
(£’000s)
Administration
Programme
Capital
£32,196
£62,385
£3,056
24+ ALL
Scheme
(£’000s)
£872
£4,412
£154
Sub Total
£97,637
£5,438
£2,819
£2,509
£2,030
£23
£200
-
£104,995
£5,661
Ringfenced Resource
Administration
Programme
Annually Managed Expenditure
Total BIS (England)
Total SAAS (Scotland)
Total
(£’000s)
%
£33,068 £66,797 £3,210 £103,075 £2,842 £2,709 £2,030
£110,656
86%
£3,437
3%
£4,000
3%
£9,600
7%
£1,122
1%
£128,814
Total DEL (Northern Ireland)
Total DfES (Wales)
Total Other Sources
UK Total
47
100%
Expenditure Breakdown
A high-level breakdown of SLC’s Profit and Loss operating expenditure is shown below in Fig 9. The
main categories are as follows:
People Costs (58%)
The salaries and associated costs of our permanent employees delivering the core business functions
and objectives, as well as the cost of the temporary staff we have supporting us during peak times of
the academic year. This includes the staff involved in all change programmes.
Outsourced Contact Handling (11%)
We use outsourced suppliers to help us to deliver a quality service to our customers who need to phone
us. This supplements our in-house contact centre offering and helps us to manage calls at peak times.
IT Systems (9%)
The maintenance, lease, licence and telephony costs associated with both our internal and external IT
systems and infrastructure, supporting the customer journey, our technology links with third parties,
and our staff in the delivery of their objectives.
In-house customer contact (9%)
The ‘non-people costs’ associated with our customer engagement – postage and printing costs related
to our customer correspondence and literature, telephone charges arising from customer contact, print
and mailing equipment costs and customer IAG.
Premises Costs (6%)
The spend associated with renting and maintaining the buildings at our four sites in Glasgow city
centre, Glasgow Hillington, Colwyn Bay and Darlington.
Other (7%)
Depreciation on Company assets, professional services, tax etc.
Fig 9
SLC Profit and Loss operating expenditure by category
48
STUDENT LOANS COMPANY LIMITED
100 Bothwell Street, Glasgow, G2 7JD Tel 0141 306 2000 Fax 0141 306 2005 www.slc.co.uk
VAT Reg No. 556 4352 32 Registered in England No. 2401034 Registered Office: 21 St. Thomas Street, Bristol, BS1 6JS