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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to raise awareness of the risks of parents sharing a bed with their baby.

Jane Ellison

The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) published updated guidelines on co-sleeping in December 2014. The guideline advises health professionals to discuss co-sleeping (which can be intentional or unintentional) with parents and carers and inform them that there is an association between co-sleeping (parents or carers sleeping on a bed or sofa or chair with an infant) and Sudden Infant Death.

As part of the Healthy Child Programme, which is provided for all children and their families, health visitors provide information on the risk of sudden infant death including advice on sleeping positions, co-sleeping and room temperature.

Comprehensive advice for parents is also available on the NHS Choices website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have had (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful laser eye surgery in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt

Corrective laser eye surgery (surgery to correct a refractive error) is not routinely carried out on the National Health Service other than for exceptional clinical reasons. Refractive errors can be successful corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Data is not collected on the number of corrective laser eye surgery procedures carried out in the independent sector or on the number of successful or unsuccessful procedures.

The following table, provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, shows a count of Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs) for those diagnosed with disorders of refraction and accommodation who underwent corrective laser eye surgery between 2009-10 to 2013-14. This data includes a range of laser eye surgery procedures and is therefore not exclusive to corrective laser eye surgery.

Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector

Year	FAEs
2009-10	318
2010-11	241
2011-12	276
2012-13	176
2013-14	195

Source:Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have had corrective laser eye surgery in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt

Corrective laser eye surgery (surgery to correct a refractive error) is not routinely carried out on the National Health Service other than for exceptional clinical reasons. Refractive errors can be successful corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Data is not collected on the number of corrective laser eye surgery procedures carried out in the independent sector or on the number of successful or unsuccessful procedures.

The following table, provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, shows a count of Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs) for those diagnosed with disorders of refraction and accommodation who underwent corrective laser eye surgery between 2009-10 to 2013-14. This data includes a range of laser eye surgery procedures and is therefore not exclusive to corrective laser eye surgery.

Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector

Year	FAEs
2009-10	318
2010-11	241
2011-12	276
2012-13	176
2013-14	195

Source:Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to monitor and control eye surgery.

Alistair Burt

There are currently no plans to bring forward new legislative proposals for regulating refractive laser eye surgery.

Providers of laser eye surgery are required to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), as this is a regulated activity. All providers of regulated activities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 must be registered with the CQC and meet the new fundamental standards of safety and quality that came onto force on 1 April this year. The CQC has a range of enforcement actions that it can take if providers do not meet the fundamental standards.

Doctors performing laser eye surgery in the United Kingdom must also be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). All registered doctors are expected to be familiar with the GMC’s publication Good medical practice and supporting guidance, which describes what is expected of them. This document makes clear that medical doctors must recognise and work within the limits of their competence

Further work is underway to improve the delivery, safety and standards for patient information regarding these procedures and this is being led by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make Translarna available on the NHS to treat Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

George Freeman

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is evaluating Translarna (ataluren) for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy through its highly specialised technology programme. NICE currently expects to publish its final guidance in February 2016.

The National Health Service in England is legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended in NICE highly specialised technology guidance within three months of its final guidance being issued. In the absence of guidance from NICE, it is for commissioners to make decisions on whether to fund medicines based on an assessment of the available evidence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will promulgate official advice to pregnant women not to drink alcohol.

Jane Ellison

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is overseeing a United Kingdom-wide review of all alcohol guidelines so that people can make informed choices about their drinking at all stages of their lives.

The Guidelines Development Group, a group of independent experts, was tasked with developing lower-risk drinking guidelines for the UK CMOs to consider, including UK wide guidance for alcohol and pregnancy. We will be consulting on these shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of when new, cheap forms of blood cancer tests are likely to be made available on the NHS.

George Freeman

A number of new blood tests, which show promise in diagnosing cancers earlier, are currently undergoing clinical trials. We would expect these to become available in the National Health Service once they have satisfied the regulatory requirements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to reach a decision on the possible expansion of Heathrow Airport.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government’s position on airports capacity has not changed since the Airports Commission published their final report on 1 July 2015. Government is still reviewing all of the evidence before coming to any decisions.

The Prime Minister has said a decision will be made by the end of the year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to reduce Islamist culture at HM Prison Whitemoor.

Andrew Selous

Any behaviour by those convicted of extremist crimes or who subscribe to an agenda which seeks to promote extremist views will be challenged and managed accordingly.

In order to ensure our current practice is as robust and effective as possible in dealing with such beliefs, the Justice Secretary has commissioned a review, supported by external expertise, of the overall approach to dealing with Islamist extremism in prisons, probation and the youth justice system.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were recruited to the (a) army, (b) Royal Air Force, (c) Royal Navy and (d) reserve forces in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Mr Philip Dunne

The following tables show the number of people recruited into each Service of the Armed Forces in Northern Ireland in each of the last five financial years (FY).

Royal Navy: Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Marine (RM) personnel recruited through Armed Forces Career Office, Northern Ireland

FY	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Regular (RN and RM)	40	40	45	60	45
Reserve (RNR and RMR)	35	20	25	25	20

Army

FY	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Regular	250	290	270	200	200
Reserve	190	380	280	90	90

Note: information is based on the post code on the applicants contact address.

RAF: Regular Other Ranks Recruitment through Armed Forces Careers Office, Belfast

FY	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Other Ranks	10	10	10	20	20

Note: Information relating to Officer and Aircrew recruitment in Northern Ireland is not available.

RAF Reserve Recruitment

FY	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Reserves	~	–	–	20*	60*

Note:

~ = Information not available.

*= estimated figures.

Figures have been rounded to 10. Numbers ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias.

The data on Reserves supersedes the estimated figures for the Royal Navy and the Army provided on 20 October 2015 by my hon. Friend the Minister for Reserves (Julian Brazier) in response to Question 11479 to the hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson).