Tag: Barry Sheerman

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the international dog meat trade.

Mr Hugo Swire

We are committed to raising standards of animal welfare in the UK and abroad. While there are no international norms, laws or agreements governing the trade and consumption of dog meat, we believe it is necessary to work with governments to gain agreement on animal welfare standards and to stop cruel and inhumane farming practices. As the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (Mr Duddridge), outlined in the House of Commons on 5 November, we raise our concerns with those countries where the trade in dog meat is legal and work alongside them to improve animal welfare. I am writing to our Ambassadors in relevant countries to review what appropriate action may be taken on this issue. The British Government will also consider a review of our engagement with relevant international organisations regarding health and welfare issues in the dog meat trade.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost of protection and conservation of UK coastlines has been over the last five years; and what the projected cost of such protection and conservation will be over the next five years.

Rory Stewart

Flood and coastal erosion risk management is devolved in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. In England, over the past 5 years total Government capital expenditure on building and improving defences to provide protection against coastal flooding or erosion was £750 million. In the five years that started in April 2015, £875 million of capital funding has been indicatively allocated for the same purpose.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to help young people engage with the digital economy.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government’s Digital Engagement team works in partnership with more than 90 signatories of the 2014 Digital Inclusion Charter, which supports programmes to increase young people’s engagement in digital skills and the digital economy. We also support the ‘Your Life’ campaign which is helping to change perceptions of technology and other STEM subjects among all young people. A network of STEM Ambassadors from industry and academia actively work with schools to encourage young people to choose STEM subjects, and embark on digital careers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to prevent the spread of the Zika virus to the UK.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England (PHE) and the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) have been carefully monitoring the Zika virus outbreak in the Americas since it was first reported in Brazil during May 2015. PHE has reviewed evidence on the transmission of Zika virus and PHE mosquito experts have provided advice to Government and the public that neither the main vector of Zika virus Aedes aegypti, nor other species of Aedes mosquitoes, including Aedes albopictus, that may have the potential to transmit this virus, are established in the United Kingdom.

The risk to the UK population is related to travel to countries where Zika virus outbreaks are currently ongoing, and NaTHNaC and PHE have published updated advice for travellers to South and Central America and the Caribbean, including specific advice for pregnant women. The risk of onward spread within the UK is very low and PHE has again provided this advice to government, and the public.

PHE has also been working with appropriate professional groups to develop information and guidance on Zika for clinicians. This advice can be accessed through the PHE website and has been cascaded by organisations such as the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Together with the Royal College of General Practitioners PHE has developed guidance specifically targeted at primary care which will be available shortly. PHE has also produced regular briefing notes for local health protection teams who have been asked to share this with the local National Health Service.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of aid disposed in Syria in protecting people from disease and starvation.

Mr Desmond Swayne

UK support has reached hundreds of thousands of people in Syria, enabling vulnerable Syrians to survive. By the end of June 2015, UK support inside Syria had provided over 15.1 million food rations, access to clean water for over 1.6 million people, 2 million medical consultations and resulted in over 6.9 million instances when people benefited from sanitation and hygiene activities.

We are concerned that the 2015 UN appeals for the Syria crisis were severely underfunded, meaning Syrian people did not receive the food, shelter and medical treatment they needed so desperately. The UK is playing its part. The "Supporting Syria and the Region London 2016)" Conference was held on 4 February last week, and more than US$11 billion was pledged to support people in Syria and the region affected by the conflict, the largest amount raised in one day for a humanitarian crisis. Commitments made at the Conference will help to create 1.1 million jobs and provide education to an additional 1 million children. The UK remains at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have doubled our commitment and have now pledged a total of over £2.3 billion, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis.

Across Syria, Assad and other parties to the conflict are wilfully impeding humanitarian access on a daily basis. It is outrageous, unacceptable and illegal to use starvation as a weapon of war.

The UN, the Red Cross Movement and NGO partners are best placed to deliver aid to people who are starving. They have the mandate, expertise and capacity to assess needs and deliver an appropriate, timely response. We continue to press for them to be granted full access to all areas in need. We also lobbied hard for UN Security Council resolutions 2165, 2191 and 2258, enabling the UN to deliver aid across borders without the consent of the regime. As a result, 240 shipments of cross-border aid have been delivered by road to Syrians in need.

The most effective way to get food and medical assistance to vulnerable Syrians is for Assad and all parties to the conflict to adhere to international humanitarian law. That is why the UK Government is calling on the Assad regime and all parties to the conflict to allow immediate and unfettered access to all areas of Syria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department issues to airlines on passenger alcohol consumption.

Mr Robert Goodwill

I and my officials have met and corresponded with industry representatives to discuss the issue of disruptive passengers on a number of occasions over the last year. In particular we have been working closely with airlines, airports, the police and duty free retailers to understand the challenges posed by disruptive behaviour on aircraft and to explore practical steps that can be taken to both reduce the frequency of these instances and to ensure that they are dealt with appropriately when they do occur. We are very supportive of industry’s efforts, including to collating and disseminating best practice and guidance; we will continue to provide assistance where appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to tackle premature mortality among people on the autism spectrum.

Alistair Burt

The National Health Service is taking action to increase the health checks and cancer screening programmes for people with learning disabilities, including those who also have autism. In 2015, NHS England commissioned the world’s first Learning Disability Mortality Review Programme to support local areas to review deaths of people with learning disabilities and to use the information to improve service provision so that physical and mental health problems can be identified and addressed. This programme is currently being piloted and will be rolled out more widely in due course.

We would expect that the work of the mortality review as a whole is likely to generate new information on the causes of premature mortality in all people with learning disabilities including many who will also have had autism spectrum disorder.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on ensuring that co-ordinated school place planning is retained in the event of all state schools becoming academies.

Edward Timpson

Local authorities (LAs) have a legal obligation to ensure that there are sufficient local schools to provide a primary and secondary place for all children needing one. Supporting LAs to do this continues to be one of the Government’s top priorities. That is why we have committed to spending £7 billion on school places up to 2021, which, alongside investment in the free schools programme, we expect to create 600,000 new places. This is on top of the £5 billion the Coalition Government spent between 2011 and 2015, which helped to create 600,000 additional places between 2010 and 2015.

LAs have always relied on their strong relationships with local schools to deliver the places needed and this will remain the case in a fully academised system. For example, many local authorities are recognising the opportunity that the free schools programme provides and are encouraging new and existing high quality education providers to apply to set up a new school in their area. We encourage all local authorities to do likewise.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reunite refugee minors with their families in the UK.

James Brokenshire

We have worked with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), NGOs, local authorities and the devolved administrations to provide a resettlement route to the UK, specifically designed for children at risk from the Middle East and North Africa region. On the UNHCR’s recommendation the scheme will target all children at risk as defined by the UNHCR. This includes unaccompanied children and separated children (those separated from their parents and/or other family members) as well as other vulnerable children such as child carers and those at risk of child labour, child marriage or other forms of neglect, abuse or exploitation.

We will commit to resettling several hundred individuals in the first year with a view to resettling up to 3000 individuals over the lifetime of this Parliament, the majority of whom will be children. Further details can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement available at:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2016-04-21/HCWS687

Further, our refugee family reunion policy allows immediate family members of a person in the UK with refugee leave or humanitarian protection status – that is a spouse or partner and children under the age of 18, who formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country of origin – to reunite with them in the UK.

Where a family reunion application fails under the Immigration Rules, the Entry Clearance Officer must also consider whether there are exceptional circumstances or compassionate reasons to justify granting a visa outside the Rules. This caters for family members in exceptional circumstances and would include minors applying to join a member of their extended family who has refugee status or humanitarian protection.

A British citizen or individual with indefinite leave to remain can also sponsor a child to come to the UK under the Immigration Rules if they are that child’s parent, irrespective of whether the child is a refugee.

There is also provision for a child to seek leave to enter to join a relative who has refugee leave or is a beneficiary of humanitarian protection where the relative is not the parent of the child, and the child is under the age of eighteen. Other requirements apply such as the need to be able to care for the child without recourse to public funds. Exceptional circumstance will also be considered in these cases.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was paid in prescription charges in England and Wales in 2015-16.

Alistair Burt

We do not have an audited figure for the total amount paid in prescription charges in England in the community for 2015-16. However, provisional data for this 2015-16 financial year indicates that, up to the end of February 2016, £402.7 million was paid. An additional £124.4 million was also paid up to the end of March 2016 through the purchase of prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs). For 2014-15, which is the latest year for which we have an audited figure, revenue from prescriptions charges dispensed in the community, including PPC revenue, totalled £503.9 million. Approximately 90% of prescriptions are dispensed in England without charge.

Prescription charges were abolished in Wales in 2007, and the Department does not have data on prescription charges collected in Wales for prescriptions issued in England.