Tag: David Simpson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department is offering to the Nigerian government in response to the recent killings by Boko Haram in Nigeria.

Mr David Lidington

The UK has taken an active role in leading international support to Nigeria in its fight against Boko Haram. We are providing a substantial package of UK military, intelligence and development support, which includes training and advice to Nigerian units deploying against Boko Haram, intelligence support and support to the Nigerians in bringing increased development and prosperity to the North East. We are also working closely with our international partners to support the large numbers of people displaced by the conflict in the North East.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what his Department’s expenditure was in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Wales in 2014.

Amber Rudd

The Department of Energy and Climate Change’s expenditure for the financial year 2013-2014 was in (a) England £2,445.6m, (b) Scotland £437.2m, (c) Northern Ireland £1.8m and (d) Wales £117.4m.

Expenditure that is incurred for the benefit of the UK as a whole and cannot be disseminated by individual country or region is excluded from these amounts.

The figures are published annually and can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2014

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what progress the Government has made on its work to provide justice for the victims of the 1976 Kingsmill Massacre.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

The Kingsmill attack was a horrendous sectarian atrocity. I understand how the pain of such an attack never diminishes for the families of the victims. I hope that the ongoing Coroner’s inquests will help provide the answers the families are seeking about the deaths of their loved ones.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that doctors and surgeons are not working excessive hours.

Dr Daniel Poulter

It is the responsibility of National Health Service trusts to ensure that service rotas are designed and staffed appropriately and are in accordance with the Working Time Regulations.

The Department commissioned the Royal College of Surgeons to review the impact of the Working Time Directive on the health sector. A taskforce, chaired by Professor Norman Williams and comprising of representatives from across the medical profession, met on six occasions from October 2013 to February 2014 and a report was produced. The taskforce identified concerns about the impact of the adoption of the European Working Time Directive on the continuity of care for patients and the quality of training for some junior doctors. In view of this the report made recommendations that NHS trusts should review best practice in the design of working rotas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect red squirrels in the UK.

George Eustice

The Government is committed to protecting and expanding red squirrel populations and tackling the threats that grey squirrels in particular pose to them.

In particular, Defra is contributing a total of £50,000 between 2014 and 2016 to research into the Squirrel Pox Vaccine that will help to secure the long term future of red squirrels in the UK.

Additionally, the Forestry Commission continues to support Red Squirrels Northern England, a partnership project between the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, Natural England, the Forestry Commission and the Wildlife Trusts, which is helping to protect and expand the biggest population of red squirrels left in England. Seventeen reserves have been identified where long-term survival of the species is considered most likely. Targeted control of grey squirrels is carried out in the reserves and surrounding buffer zones. In addition, the reserves and surrounding areas are being managed in ways that favour red squirrels. In the south of England, where there are secure populations on the Isle of Wight and Poole Harbour Islands, there is an action plan in place to respond to the appearance of grey squirrels.

In 2014 the Forestry Commission reviewed our approach to grey squirrels. As a result of the review, the Forestry Commission has updated the action plan for grey squirrels in England.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle the persecution of Christians in Somalia.

Mr David Lidington

The overwhelming majority of people in Somalia are Muslim (around 99.8%) and Islam is recognised as the official state religion in Somalia’s provisional constitution. The UK continues to support the Federal Government of Somalia in their efforts to bring government control to Somalia, and restore essential freedoms to all Somalis.

The UK is working with the Federal Government of Somalia to establish a national human rights commission, to improve human rights for everybody in Somalia, irrespective of their religious persuasion – and also supporting the United Nations assistance mission in Somalia (UNSOM) monitoring and improving human rights.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to provide care and support for members of the armed forces who have a mental illness.

Anna Soubry

We take the mental health of our personnel and veterans very seriously, and are committed to ensuring that help is available for everyone who needs it. For serving personnel, the Defence Medical Services (DMS) have in place a variety of measures to identify issues at the earliest possible opportunity. These include pre- and post-deployment briefing, and a range of professional support, assessment and treatment both during and after deployments, as well as peer-group mentoring through the Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) process.

On major operations such as in Iraq and Afghanistan, we deploy mental health professionals as part of the medical team in support of our troops to provide advice and treatment. Personnel who require further treatment are referred back to the UK, where our services are configured to provide community-based mental healthcare in line with national best practice. This care is delivered primarily through unit-based primary healthcare centres and our network of 16 military Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs) across the UK (plus centres overseas), where the DMS have developed a significant capability in managing traumatic stress conditions. Patient care, when required, is available through a contract with a group of eight specialist NHS Trusts across the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the provision of superfast broadband to rural businesses in all parts of the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey

In 2010 nearly half of UK premises could access superfast broadband. Current superfast broadband coverage is almost 80% of UK premises and the Government remains committed to providing 95% coverage by 2017. This will benefit rural businesses across the UK.

BDUK works with local authorities and the devolved administrations to determine how funding for broadband projects is deployed and where the roll out of superfast broadband is carried out.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the Regular Forces were stationed in Northern Ireland in 2014.

Mr Mark Francois

The number of UK Regular Forces stationed in Northern Ireland in 2014 can be found in the Ministry of Defence Quarterly Location Statistics on the Gov.UK website at the following link:

www.gov.uk/location-of-all-uk-regular-service-and-civilian-personnel-quarterly-statistics-index

The information is reproduced below.

UK Regular Forces stationed in Northern Ireland in 2014 (as at October 2014)

Officers

210

Other ranks

2,130

Total

2,340

Due to the rounding methods used, figures may not always equal the sum of their rounded parts. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.

UK Regular Forces includes all trained and untrained personnel. Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve personnel, and mobilised reservists are excluded

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2014-06-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Syria.

Justine Greening

The humanitarian crisis in Syria has reached catastrophic proportions. The UN estimates that 9.3 million people are in dire need of humanitarian aid within Syria. At least 6.5 million people in Syria have been forced to flee their homes to other areas of the country and there are now over 2.8 million refugees in the region.