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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of (a) CRE and (b) other superbugs which are persistent to antibiotics.

Jane Ellison

The Government has already taken significant action to address carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae and other organisms that are resistant to antibiotics.

The UK 5 Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy set out key steps for tackling organisms that are resistant to a range of antibiotics. As part of our strategy to reduce the incidence of such infections, we have tightened the regulatory aspects in England by revising the Health and Social Care Act Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections in July 2015. The revised Code strengthens links and references to antimicrobial resistance within primary and secondary care. Furthermore, the NHS Standard Contract published in March 2015 included amendments to require compliance with the Code of Practice. This enables regulators such as the Care Quality Commission to look at compliance with the Code within its inspection programme.

At the same time, we have ensured that a range of guidance and tool kits have been produced to support healthcare staff to manage carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae and other resistant bacteria. Public Health England has published updated standards in June 2015 covering additional training on infection and control, which includes a carbapenemese-resistant Enterobacteriaceae toolkit for the non-acute and community sector.

In terms of surveillance of carbapenemase-resistant organisms, Public Health England has rolled out the second generation surveillance system for the reporting of notifiable infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance in December 2014. It has also developed an electronic system for reporting carbapenemase-producing organisms, to allow demographic and clinical risk information to be captured and analysed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of when lens implants to prevent age-related macular degeneration will be available on the NHS.

Alistair Burt

No such estimate has been made. Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for the commissioning of ophthalmic services in secondary care. Where National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance does not exist on a particular treatment, it is for commissioners to make funding decisions based on an assessment of the available evidence and on the basis of an individual patient’s clinical circumstances.

NHS Commissioners are required to have in place clear and transparent arrangements for local decision-making on the funding of treatments and for considering exceptional funding requests.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy for the NHS to screen all people over the age of 55 for hearing loss.

Alistair Burt

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the NHS in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy.

In 2009-10 the UK NSC recommended that routine screening for adult hearing loss should not be offered because of the lack of evidence to warrant a screening programme. In particular:

– it is not clear what the test should be;

– there is no agreed time or schedule for carrying out the testing;

– the acceptability of the test and in particular the treatment (hearing aids) is unclear; and

– there had been no randomised trials of screening.

As part of its routine evidence review process the UK NSC has just reviewed its recommendation on screening adults for hearing loss again. Ministers expect to receive a recommendation from the UK NSC shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people of each gender and age group were diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt

2012-13 is the first year for which information is available. The number of people in England who were referred to Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services with obsessive compulsive disorder as the recorded problem from 2012-13 to 2014-15 is given in the attached table Improving Access to Psychological Therapies: Number of referrals where the recorded problem was Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, by gender and age group 2012-2013 to 2014-2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve the personal fitness and health of police officers.

Mike Penning

The Winsor review of police officer and staff pay and conditions, which the Home Secretary commissioned, recommended in March 2012 that fitness testing should be introduced. Following consideration by the Police Advisory Board, mandatory fitness testing was implemented on 1 September 2014.

The management of initiatives that support officers to improve fitness is a matter for individual police forces and the College of Policing has issued guidance in this area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the waiting time for spouses seeking visas to undertake English language tests.

James Brokenshire

The Home Office is not aware of any issues with regards to waiting times for Secure English Language Testing (SELT).

In the UK, customers should be able to book a test within 28 days, often within a few days. In countries where there are permanent test centres customers should again be able to book tests within 28 days. In busy periods, the centres will test more frequently.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department’s most recent estimate is of the number of illegal firearms in the UK.

Mike Penning

The Home Office does not maintain records of firearms seized by police forces in England and Wales.The National Ballistics Intelligence Service regularly assesses the volume and type of illegal firearms in use in the UK. The information is operationally sensitive and is not suitable for release.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegal firearms were seized in each of the last five years; and how many of those were (a) pistols, (b) rifles, (c) shotguns and (d) machine guns.

Mike Penning

The Home Office does not maintain records of firearms seized by police forces in England and Wales.The National Ballistics Intelligence Service regularly assesses the volume and type of illegal firearms in use in the UK. The information is operationally sensitive and is not suitable for release.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the insurance industry on steps that can be taken to ensure that people with cancer can access low-cost travel insurance.

Harriett Baldwin

Insurers take into account a range of different factors when considering risk and decisions concerning the pricing of insurance products are a commercial matter for individual insurers. The Government does not seek to intervene in these decisions.

Information is available on the Cancer Research UK website for people seeking travel insurance who have been or are currently affected by cancer.

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) may be able to provide names of specialist brokers who can advise on the availability of appropriate travel insurance, and trawl the market for the best available deals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to encourage British Muslims to join the armed forces to tackle ISIL.

Penny Mordaunt

The Ministry of Defence is working up plans to meet the Government’s commitment to increase the number of black, Asian, ethnic minority (BAME) recruits into the Armed Forces to 10% by 2020, and have allocated additional resources for this purpose.

Diversity and inclusion is a Defence Board priority and we recognise that there are challenges we need to address and we are engaging with all communities that are under-represented in the Armed Forces to consider ways and means of doing so.

Some examples of actions we have taken that are aimed at increasing BAME, including Muslim, recruitment are:

Highlighting the benefits of a career in the Armed Forces including the ability to develop a trade or gain professional skills; as well as being a force for good, for example through conducting humanitarian operations.

Trying to build mutual understanding between the Armed Forces and local communities including highlighting the role that Muslims have played in operations from World War One to the present day.

Tackling the perception that there are no role models for Muslims in the Armed Forces.

The Armed Forces have recently (October 2015) won two of the seven awards being presented at the Race for Opportunity Awards. The Armed Forces Muslim Association, of which the Chief of Defence Staff is patron, won the Public Sector Employee Network Award and the Royal Air Force won the Future Workforce Award for their STEM/Employability Skills programme.