Asked by: Duncan Hames (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to remove financial barriers to postgraduate education.
Answered by Greg Clark
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.
Asked by: Duncan Hames (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish without redaction the Shale Gas: Rural Economy Impacts report, published by her Department with redactions in March 2014.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
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.
Asked by: Duncan Hames (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in (a) Wiltshire, (b) London and (c) the UK paid inheritance tax in each of the last four years for which figures are available.
Answered by David Gauke
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.
Asked by: Duncan Hames (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people paying higher rate tax had taxable income below £50,000 in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by David Gauke
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.
Asked by: Duncan Hames (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional capital funding she plans to make available to help schools provide free hot meals to all infant pupils.
Answered by David Laws
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.
Asked by: Duncan Hames (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve the Service complaints system.
Answered by Anna Soubry
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.
Asked by: Duncan Hames (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of stormwater drainage in residential areas.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
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.
Asked by: Duncan Hames (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to enhance preparedness to isolate and contain instances of Ebola in England.
Answered by Jane Ellison
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.
Asked by: Duncan Hames (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve the service complaints system.
Answered by Anna Soubry
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 5th June 2014 will improve the system to make sure that is what they will get.
Asked by: Duncan Hames (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners aged 75 and over there were in each type of prison in (a) 2010 and (b) the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
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.
Prison population aged 75 years and over as at 31 March in year shown, | |||
England and Wales |
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Category | 2010 | 2014 |
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Cluster | 17 | 32 |
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Female closed | <5 | <5 |
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Female local | <5 | <5 |
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Male category B | 9 | 16 |
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Male category C | 83 | 187 |
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Male closed YOI(1) | <5 | <5 |
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Male dispersal | 17 | 18 |
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Male local | 73 | 129 |
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Male open | 6 | 14 |
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Semi open | <5 | <5 |
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Grand Total | 208 | 400 |
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1) People may be held in a prison which is predominantly for young offenders but |
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is dual registered to hold adults. |
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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.