Tag: Jim Cunningham

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the potential implications of the UK leaving the EU for quarantine measures for pests and disease of plant material.

Mr David Jones

I refer the Hon Member to the reply previously given on 25th October 2016, PQ UIN49488 by my hon Friend, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, George Eustice.

We recognise that the UK’s exit from the EU may have implications for the way in which current UK plant health services operate, including phytosanitary certification on imports, quarantine measures to mitigate the highest risk pests and diseases, and plant passporting.

We are considering the implications and possible options as part of our planning for, and negotiations on, the UK’s exit.

Continuing to deliver a risk-based, proportionate plant health regime that effectively protects the UK from plant pests and diseases, whilst maximising the free movement of goods, remains of the highest priority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has for phytosanitary certification measures for the importation of plant material after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice

We recognise that the UK’s exit from the EU may have implications for the way in which current UK plant health services operate, including phytosanitary certification on imports, quarantine measures to mitigate the highest risk pests and diseases, and plant passporting.

We are considering the implications and possible options as part of our planning for, and negotiations on, the UK’s exit.

Continuing to deliver a risk-based, proportionate plant health regime that effectively protects the UK from plant pests and diseases, whilst maximising the free movement of goods, remains of the highest priority.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of UK military activity in Syria in the last 12 months.

Michael Fallon

The net additional cost of UK military activity in Syria is not separately identified from that of the broader countering ISIL activity in Iraq and Syria. The net additional cost of countering ISIL activity between August 2014 and 31 March 2015, was around £45 million, met from the Deployed Military Activity Pool (DMAP) and the HM Treasury Special Reserve. These details are published in the 2014-15 MOD Annual Report and Accounts.

An initial £45 million has been requested in 2015-16 to meet the net additional costs of airstrikes in Iraq and airborne intelligence gathering operations in Iraq and Syria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the security situation in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office regularly reviews the security situation in Sri Lanka. Current advice on this is posted on the Government’s foreign travel advice website on the “Safety and Security” page.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of (a) the number of people in receipt of the Carer’s Allowance and (b) the total cost of the Carer’s Allowance scheme in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson

Benefit expenditure and the number of people in receipt of Carer’s Allowance at a Great Britain level are available in our published expenditure tables which are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2015

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent review his Department has conducted into the adequacy of suicide prevention support for (a) men and (b) women; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

There has not been a formal review of the adequacy of suicide prevention support for men and women. However, we published a national strategy, Preventing Suicide in England: a cross-Government strategy to save lives in 2012. I announced in a Westminster Hall Debate on 19 November 2015 that this strategy was a dynamic one, being reviewed and refreshed regularly. We continue to monitor and track trends in suicide and work with organisations across Government and industry and with a range of stakeholder organisations to implement the national strategy. We publish an annual report on our progress. The next annual report will be published early next year.

The Department provides financial support to the National Suicide Prevention Alliance consisting of a range of organisations concerned with suicide prevention which provides expert advice on implementing the national strategy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 17021, what the number of methicillin resistant (a) staphylococcus aureus, (b) clostridium difficile and (c) E.coli infections were in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Ben Gummer

Public Health England (PHE) has surveillance data on meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia, E. coli bacteraemia and on C. difficile Infection (CDI). The reported numbers for both MRSA and E. coli bacteraemia cover bloodstream infections only. C. difficile data covers all infections. The totals, shown in the table below, are the number of infections reported to PHE each financial year, extracted from the Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAI) data capture system. Mandatory surveillance data covers England only.

Total Number of MRSA, C. difficile and E. coli infections in England (April 2010 to March 2015)

Year:	April 2010 – March 2011	April 2011 – March 2012	April 2012 – March 2013	April 2013- March 2014	April 2014 – March 2015
Total reported MRSA bacteraemia episodes	1,481	1,116	924	862	801
Total reported C. difficile episodes	21,707	18,022	14,694	13,361	14,165
Total reported E. coli bacteraemia episodes	*	*	32,309	34,275	35,676

* Mandatory surveillance of E. coli bacteraemia was introduced in July 2011.

Source: PHE.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the amount of funding will be for the Starter Homes Local Authority Funding Programme in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis

We announced, as part of the outcome of the Spending Review in November, a £2.3 billion Starter Homes funding package to support the delivery of our manifesto commitment to build 200,000 Starter Homes by 2020. This is part of the £8 billion we are investing to deliver 400,000 new affordable housing starts. Further details about this funding will be announced shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the total number of recipients of NHS bursaries in each of the last five years; how much has been so allocated; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer

Information on the number of students who were in receipt of a bursary and the total cost of all bursaries made in each of the last five complete financial years is shown in the following table.

Financial Year 1	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
Number of NHS Bursary recipients2	107,966	100,906	102,186	102,791	100,097
Total expenditure (£000)3	521,456	509,422	482,219	452,134	430,349

Source: NHS Business Services Authority

Notes:

¹Covers the period 1 April to 31 March

²The figures relate to the number of students paid any bursary element in the period. As such figures exclude nil award holders (European Union) fees only students and students whose award was fully abated by means-testing. ³Covers all bursary award elements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the situation in Eastern Ukraine; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington

The security situation in eastern Ukraine remains fragile, although a ceasefire agreed in September continues largely to hold following an order issued by the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ chief-of-staff on 25 November not to return fire unless in self-defence. Progress on the Minsk peace process was made at a Normandy-format Foreign Ministers’ meeting on 6 November, including agreements on the withdrawal of heavy weapons and de-mining. However these now need to be fully implemented alongside the ceasefire being fully respected.

A report published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on 9 December reported that the total death toll since mid-April 2014 is at least 9,098, with another 20,732 injured. The report also reveals that serious human rights abuses against people in the separatist-held areas continue, including killings, torture, ill-treatment, illegal detention and forced labour, lack of freedom of movement, assembly and expression. An estimated 2.9 million people living in the conflict area continue to face difficulties in exercising their economic and social rights, in particular access to quality medical care. The already dire humanitarian situation is exacerbated by the lack of access to these areas by international humanitarian organisations. Sustained and unimpeded access by humanitarian organisations to these areas is vital.

I expressed my concern at the situation in Ukraine in a statement at the OSCE Ministerial Council in Basel on 3 December, where I called on the Russian Federation to withdraw their weapons and personnel, and use their considerable influence over the separatist leadership in order to bring an end to the crisis. I also raised the Government’s concerns about the situation in Eastern Ukraine with Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Titov in Moscow on 22 December.