The Department has conducted minimal analysis of the costs of managing the loans over their lifetime, with no assessment of the factors that might increase costs or reduce income. It forecast that it would spend £17.3 million over the three years to March 2025, which we calculated would already represent 22% of its total expected income from interest on its loans.28 Beyond that, it expects its one–off costs to fall after the introduction of its loan management system and its ongoing management costs to come down, with overall costs lower from 2025–26.29 However, the Department had only carried out detailed forecasts of the costs of running the loan for the current Spending Review period ending in 2024–25, and had not estimated its costs beyond March 2025.30 The Department informed us that it had now been given its spending settlement to March 2026. It therefore has an expectation of the costs of running the scheme in 2025–26, and was in the process of undertaking its business planning for this year.31