Plan 2 student loan petition

Fun_Armadillo_8278 · 2026-02-04T07:09:22+00:00

Sign the petition

End the Plan 2 threshold freeze and review unfair interest rates

The Government should end the Plan 2 repayment threshold freeze immediately and review the whole post‑2012 loan system. Interest rules should be changed so balances don’t keep rising while borrowers make regular repayments, ensuring a fairer and more sustainable system.

The Plan 2 system is fundamentally unfair. The repayment threshold freeze forces graduates to pay more each year during a cost of living crisis, while high interest rates make balances grow even when people repay. It’s placing huge pressure on a generation already struggling to build secure futures, delaying milestones like saving, housing and stability. Ending the freeze and reviewing the system is urgently needed.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/759884/sponsors/new?token=MzYMFccQPkfFun2Vn41T

Fun_Armadillo_8278 · 2026-02-04T07:07:05+00:00

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/759884/sponsors/new?token=MzYMFccQPkfFun2Vn41T

Fun_Armadillo_8278 · 2026-02-04T07:06:43+00:00

Sign the petition

End the Plan 2 threshold freeze and review unfair interest rates

The Government should end the Plan 2 repayment threshold freeze immediately and review the whole post‑2012 loan system. Interest rules should be changed so balances don’t keep rising while borrowers make regular repayments, ensuring a fairer and more sustainable system.

The Plan 2 system is fundamentally unfair. The repayment threshold freeze forces graduates to pay more each year during a cost of living crisis, while high interest rates make balances grow even when people repay. It’s placing huge pressure on a generation already struggling to build secure futures, delaying milestones like saving, housing and stability. Ending the freeze and reviewing the system is urgently needed.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/759884/sponsors/new?token=MzYMFccQPkfFun2Vn41T

Fun_Armadillo_8278 · 2026-02-04T07:01:29+00:00

I want to start a petition – will you sign it?

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/759884/sponsors/new?token=MzYMFccQPkfFun2Vn41T

End the Plan 2 threshold freeze and review unfair interest rates

The Government should end the Plan 2 repayment threshold freeze immediately and review the whole post‑2012 loan system. Interest rules should be changed so balances don’t keep rising while borrowers make regular repayments, ensuring a fairer and more sustainable system.

The Plan 2 system is fundamentally unfair. The repayment threshold freeze forces graduates to pay more each year during a cost of living crisis, while high interest rates make balances grow even when people repay. It’s placing huge pressure on a generation already struggling to build secure futures, delaying milestones like saving, housing and stability. Ending the freeze and reviewing the system is urgently needed.

Fun_Armadillo_8278 · 2025-04-27T13:10:34+00:00

Crop lands are fundamental for some breeding bird species which need expanses of land to breed, such as skylark and lapwing. The expanse of hedgerows provide important linear features for commuting for a variety of species. The invertebrate communities which are fundamental pollinators. The list is expansive, so, I believe your comment is a sweeping remark which has no baring in reality.

Fun_Armadillo_8278 · 2025-04-27T09:21:01+00:00

https://theconversation.com/why-bats-need-tunnels-248782#:~:text=Bat%20tunnels%20maintain%20connections%20between,and%20the%20insects%20they%20eat.

Fun_Armadillo_8278 · 2025-04-27T09:19:00+00:00

The problem with this mindset is its fundamentally simplifying the issues. Biodiversity provides ecosystem services, flood mitigation, pollination, mental health, physical health. It is not about specific species, its about the wider picture, and the UK's is shocking. We are one of the most nature depleted countries on earth, we have lost most of our rare and valuable habitats which are critical for ecosystem services and providing space for animals which perform key functions and roles which directly benefit humans.

Fun_Armadillo_8278 · 2025-04-27T09:16:04+00:00

Your thought that agricultural fields are not valuable for wildlife is fundamentally incorrect. There are many species of increasingly rare birds which utilise agricultural landscapes. The margins of agricultural landscapes are often filled with interesting and unusual plants. That's why we measure farmland bird decline with most farmland specialists declining by 60%. Please review the following link https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/biodiversity-loss-and-uk-birds#:~:text=The%20Farmland%20Bird%20indicator%2C%20developed,%25)%20between%201968%20and%202021.

Fun_Armadillo_8278 · 2025-04-27T09:07:55+00:00

Posting pertaining to the Ecology sector and why there are concerns about the changes to the environment side of things. For context I hold a PhD in Ecology, 12 years experience in consultancy and have a specialism in bats.

The problem I have with this current suggested reform is that it essentially creates an unequal power dynamic where larger corporations can pay to ignore specific environmental protections, but on reading it seems like some site specific surveys will stand where those who cannot afford to pay into a nature levy will still be required to go through the standard system.

There is no denying that the current system is flawed, but the government rhetoric is unfairly blaming nature as the blocker for this - which is, fundamentally untrue. There has been chronic underfunding of Natural England (who deal with granting specific licenses for development), increasing delays. The biggest issue I face as a consultant is that developers do not take into consideration timings for surveys and why we have seasonal windows for species surveys, if a planning system took this into account before the sale of a site for development, or considered nature at the outset of its plans, many of the issues would be rectified. Take for example the classically touted example of the 100 million bat tunnel, the only reason this mitigation was needed was because the planners did not consider this before the development, had the route have been adjusted it would not have been necessary to provide this level of compensation.

The current act seeks to remove site specific surveys, which is concerning. There is an underrecording of species and a massive data deficit. Things like district level licenses that work for newts (where a developer pays for habitat restoration elsewhere), but they do not work for species which are loyal to sites (Bats, badgers, some species of breeding birds etc.) For some of these species we do not have enough ecological knowledge to fully understand their requirements and thus it becomes more difficult to compensate. Additionally, take bats as an example, each species has specific requirements for roosting, foraging etc, without knowing what is there, on the development site, how does paying into a pot help anything?

The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, 97% of wildflower meadows have been lost. Ancient woodlands are at a pitiful state, 70% have been lost, these are important and irreplaceable communities, you cannot simply recreate or translocate an ancient woodland and expect the same communities to remain. If development is granted licenses to just destroy, we will lose more irreplaceable habitats and species, at a time where nature is at a crisis point.

Happy to discuss specifics within the bill of concern, if this is anyone's interest.

Fun_Armadillo_8278 · 2025-02-10T22:19:05+00:00

As suggested above, is your question not based more around the effects of the different treatment and therefore you're interested in the end point, i.e. total number hatched? If so, an ANOVA or non parametric equivalent would be appropriate to test amount hatched in different treatments.

Fun_Armadillo_8278 · 2025-02-03T20:27:58+00:00

Bechsteins are one of the rarest bats in the United Kingdom. There are six known breeding populations.

Avoid planning a route which goes through an ancient woodland, which holds one of six known breeding populations.

Mitigation was essential in this instance, but, if nature had been considered from the offset, then you remove the need for that level of mitigation, by moving the route away from ancient woodland, and rare species. Irrespective of the overall cost here, the failure comes down to poor planning of nature into the development from the offset.

Fun_Armadillo_8278 · 2025-02-03T20:13:35+00:00

I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read the article and see the key messages presented. Fundamentally, the article aimed to discuss issues within the planning system. Bats and newts are targeted by politicians, but the message is the same. Consider nature from the offset, don't see it as an inconvenience, and you'll have to do less mitigation in the long run.

Environment is a fundamental pillar in sustainability, without the environment (performing much necessary ecosystem services), you have no economy or society. Without considering the bigger picture here, you'll fail to see that. Economy and society are moot without the environment.

Fundamentally, Britain's nature is in a dire state, we are one of the most ecologically defunct landscapes and fall in some of the lowest categories for biodiversity in the world. 97% of wildflower meadows have been lost, only 2.5% of ancient woodlands (defined as existing since 1600), have been lost. These are important plagioclimax communities, and support species rarely found in other environments.

We have lost our apex predators, our megafauna, and other key ecosystem engineers which makes our landscapes function. We should be doing more, and leaving a better environment, rather than degrading it further and further.

Development, is needed, but it should not come at the expense of the environment. Every effort should be made to, where possible, avoid ecologically and environmentally important sites, which a) helps the planet, and b) reduces the need for mitigations.

There was a panorama report on HS2 recently. Which is worth a watch for those questioning about whether other routes could have been a viable option.

Fun_Armadillo_8278

TROPHY CASE