Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure the retention of (a) rural post offices and (b) jobs in rural post offices.

Jenny Willott

Since 2010 the Government has committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect a Post Office network of at least 11,500 branches that meets strict access criteria that ensure fair and reasonable access to Post Office services, including in rural communities. For example, the access criteria require 99% of the population nationally to live within three miles of a post office outlet. The Post Office is the only retailer in the UK that meets these criteria. Furthermore, the Government has been consistently clear that there will be no programme of branch closures, and under this Government the Post Office network is at its most stable for a generation.

The overwhelming majority of rural branches are owned and operated by private businesspeople known as subpostmasters who provide access to Post Office services under contractual arrangements. Subpostmasters are responsible for employing the staff required to deliver Post Office services.

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 discussions he had with the Iranian government on the prosecution of people of the Baha’i faith.

Hugh Robertson

The UK has repeatedly expressed concern at the treatment of the Baha’i community in Iran, including the sentencing of seven Baha’i leaders in Iran to 20 years imprisonment and the regular harassment the community suffers from. We raised the treatment of Baha’is with the UN Special Rapporteur at the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014 and the UK’s non-resident Chargé d’Affaires discussed freedom of religion with the Iranian authorities during his last visit to Iran on 12 March. We will continue to call on the Iranian government to ensure that all its citizens are able to exercise their right to freedom of religion, free from persecution and harassment.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with the Chinese government on the export of British cheeses to China.

Michael Fallon

My Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, has not had any recent discussions with the Chinese Government regarding the export of British cheese to China. However, officials at the British Embassy in Beijing have been in contact with the relevant authorities regarding the recent temporary suspension of imports of British cheese into China. The suspension has now ended.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local colleges train the people of Northern Ireland with the appropriate skills to enable further growth in film and television production in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

This is a devolved matter but I took the opportunity of raising it with the Northern Ireland Minister for Employment and Learning, on the hon Member’s behalf, when I met him on 18 June.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward proposals to enable small businesses to claim a rates reduction to help them retain staff.

Brandon Lewis

As announced at the Autumn Statement, the Government has introduced in England a £1 billion package of business rates support for 2014-15. That includes the continued doubling of Small Business Rate Relief for a further year which we estimate will support 540,000 businesses. The Localism Act has also made it easier for small firms to claim the rate relief to which they are entitled. This support builds on the £11 billion a year of tax cuts this government has announced to corporation tax, employer National Insurance Contributions and fuel duty.

Business rates in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people have applied to join the Royal Navy cadet force in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry

The number of people who made a formal application to join the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Combined Cadet Force in each of the last five years is shown in the following table:

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Adult Volunteers 50 40 40 40 50
Cadets 300 570 1140 1720 1650

In accordance with convention these figures have been rounded.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the government of Brazil on the issue of the recent increase in the number of disappeared persons in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire

We have regular discussions on human rights with the Brazilian government. Most recently the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Right Honourable Friend, the Member for Richmond (Yorks)(Mr Hague) raised this during his second visit to Brazil in February for the Strategic Dialogue. The UK also holds regular discussions of Human Rights and public security through the EU namely, initiatives, the Brazil- EU Human Rights Dialogue, the last of which was held on the 25th of April in Brasilia.