Duncan Hames

At Autumn Statement, we introduced a new offer of income contingent loans for postgraduate taught Masters courses. For the first time, anyone under age 30 who is eligible and accepted to study a Masters in any subject, will be able to access a loan of up to £10,000.

In addition, to support students until these loans are in place, we have announced £50 million in 2015/16, matched funded by institutions, to make available 10,000 bursaries of £10,000.

We have provided substantial support to help schools deliver this policy. We initially allocated £150 million capital funding in 2014-15, and are now providing an additional £24.5 million for individual school projects.

The economic impact of fracking is a matter for the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

The paper that my Hon Friend refers to was an internal draft document. It was not analytically robust and was not signed off by Ministers. It has not been published and we have no plans to do so.

My department is responsible for the environmental aspects of this policy. The Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering review on shale gas concluded if fracking is properly regulated it is safe and has minimal environmental impacts.

Stormwater drainage is a matter for local authorities in their capacity as lead local flood authorities, and it is their responsibility to make an assessment of the risk. Local authorities are accountable to local people for the adequacy of the drainage infrastructure in their areas.

The Secretary of State laid out the steps the Government are taking to enhance preparedness to isolate and contain instances of Ebola during his statement of 13 October, Official Report, columns 38-46.

These figures are publically available in table 12.10 of Inheritance Tax Official Statistics. The latest version for estates left as a result of deaths in 2011-12 is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/338989/140729Table12-10DUChecked.pdf.

The numbers of taxpayers paying tax at the higher rate by income range are published in the HMRC National Statistics table 2.5. This is available on the internet at the following address;

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/306857/Table_2.5.pdf

These estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) outturn data up to 2011-12, and then projected to 2014-15 in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility's March 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.

The bank levy, a permanent tax on banks' balance sheet equity and liabilities, was introduced by this Government from 1 January 2011.

It raised £1.6bn in both 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Following a number of increases to the headline rate, the OBR now forecast it to raise £2.3bn in 2013-14, £2.7bn in 2014-15 and £2.9bn a year from 2015-16.

This is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

The outgoing Commissioner, Dr Susan Atkins, and I are confident that an effective and fair complaints system has been agreed and is contained in the Bill now going through Parliament. It is one that will give Service Personnel access to a redress system they deserve.

Last Tuesday, I was delighted to announce that Nicola Williams is the Government’s preferred candidate for the post of Service Complaints Commissioner, and she will now go forward to a House of Commons Defence Committee pre-appointment hearing on Wednesday 26 November. She is an outstanding candidate and I am sure she will undertake the role with great vigour and insight.

Service personnel deserve to have a fair and effective complaints system. I announced in March that we had been working for some time with Dr Atkins, the Service Complaints Commissioner, on proposals for a more efficient system.

In her most recent report, Dr Atkins concluded that she was optimistic that a fairer, more effective system has been agreed, and that, once implemented, Service personnel will have access to a redress system that they deserve. The bill introduced in the House of Lords on 5^th June 2014 will improve the system to make sure that is what they will get.

Over the last ten years the number of prisoners in England and Wales aged 75 and over has risen each year. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is working hard to ensure that prisons are equipped to meet the needs of this group, including through the commissioning of health and social care services.

The requested information is provided in the table below.

These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.