Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what economic links there are with Burma; and what the value of (a) exports to and (b) imports from Burma was in the last year for which figures are available.

Mr Hugo Swire

Building a sustainable economy in Burma, including increased responsible international investment, is key to economic growth, alleviating poverty, improving livelihoods and improving stability. As set out in the ‘UK Activities in Burma’ document published on 8 April alongside a Written Ministerial Statement, the Government is working to encourage and support Burma to remove barriers to becoming a stable, prosperous and democratic country with a sustainable economy that benefits all its people and created a positive climate for domestic, international and UK trade and investment.

We are active in several areas including:
– establishing a UK Trade and Investment office in Burma to provide practical support to British companies;
– establishing a UK Financial Services Task Force to support the development of sound financial structures and products;
– funding two specialist economists from the International Growth Centre to support the Myanmar Development Resource Institute in providing high quality advice to government;
– providing £1.1m to support Burma’s application to the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative which will help improve the transparency and accountability of the revenues from Burma’s natural resources.
– supporting work to strengthen Burma’s accountancy profession, to tackle financial crime and to increase local community involvement in investment decisions.

UK exports of goods to Burma in 2013 were worth £44m (a 243% year on year increase) and imports from Burma were worth £65m (a 44% year on year increase). The top UK exports were transport equipment and road vehicles whilst the top imports were clothing.

In 2012, the last year for which total goods and services figures are available, UK exports of goods and services to Burma were worth £20.8m and imports from Burma were worth £46m.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with motor neurone disease have been treated by the NHS with iGaze technology in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb

Data on the number of people diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) is not collected. However, it is estimated that there are about 5,000 people living with MND in the United Kingdom.

Information regarding the number of people with MND who are using ‘eye gaze’ technology, a type of specialised augmentative and assistive communication aid, is not held centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passports were processed by the Belfast Passport Office in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those passports were processed within three weeks.

James Brokenshire

Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) does not collect performance data at this
level. HMPO monitors performance at national level as it distributes work across the
UK estate to manage any variation in local levels of passport demand.
The cost of identifying information in the format requested would be disproprtionate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to reduce funding for hearing aids in 2014-15.

Norman Lamb

The level of provision of hearing aids is a matter for local commissioners and is based on the needs of the local population.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the prevalence of ticks in deer; and what steps he is taking to tackle ticks in deer.

George Eustice

Defra has not made an assessment of the prevalence of ticks in deer but I am aware that they are widespread. The Deer Initiative, which is part funded by Defra, provides advice on ticks on its website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in the UK with a diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb

The Department does not hold data on an annual basis of the numbers of people with a diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder. The Department has commissioned the National Centre for Social Research and the University of Leicester to undertake the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey.

The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey in 2007 found that 1.3% of people aged 16-64 living in England reported that they had obsessive compulsive disorder.