Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects the lung cancer drug Zykadia to be available on the NHS.

George Freeman

Zykadia (ceritinib) is licensed for use in the treatment of Zykadia (ceritinib) in the United Kingdom.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently appraising Zykadia for previously treated anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive non-small-cell lung cancer.

In the absence of guidance from NICE, it is for commissioners to make decisions on whether to fund new medicines based on an assessment of the available evidence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-16.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people were diagnosed with blood cancer in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report by Professor Walton, entitled The likely effect of the Jackson reforms on insolvency litigation – an empirical investigation, published in 2013, what his policy is on each of the conclusions of that report.

Dominic Raab

Ministry of Justice officials met Professor Walton and others on 12 October last year to discuss his report, but the Ministry of Justice did not agree with his conclusions. Our changes to no win no fee deals have tackled the increasing costs of litigation. We delayed bringing the law in for insolvency proceedings to allow the industry time to prepare. The no win no fee reforms in Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 will come into force for insolvency proceedings on 6 April this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent discussions has the Government had with businesses on reducing discrimination and promoting equal opportunities.

Caroline Dinenage

The Government is committed to ensuring equal opportunities, so that everyone can reach their full potential and is working with business to achieve this. The Government has done so in a number of ways, including: The Hampton and Alexander review of women on boards and the chair of the Women’s Business Council, Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith will lead a review of issues faced by businesses in developing black and minority ethnic (BAME) talent, and access to the labour market.

The Women’s Business Council, established in 2012, has produced a range of products to encourage older women to enter and stay on in the workplace. The Women’s Business Council has also been active in working with the finance sector to address some of the barriers facing some BAME women entrepreneurs. The Government has worked closely with employers to develop a range of measures that will help promote gender equality in workplaces and will require all companies with at least 250 employees to report their gender pay gaps. It is expected that employers will publish the required information from April 2017.

This builds upon actions already undertaken by the Government including a series of equality roadshows with the British Chambers of Commerce. These roadshows highlighted the benefits and challenges of diverse workforces for business whilst helping the Government shape guidance for business on older workers, women and disabled people in the workplace to tackle discrimination.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the effectiveness of the Education Service in engaging the attention of children during their visits to Parliament.

Tom Brake

The Commission has not made a formal assessment of the effectiveness of the Education Service in engaging the attention of children during their visits to Parliament. However, it receives regular updates on the work and reach of the service, and has supported the substantial growth in this area in recent years.

The Education Service uses a number of techniques to engage students’ attention during visits including story-telling, question and answer, images, audio-visual clips, debating, quizzes and roleplay.

Visits also make use of interactive and immersive technology as a means to enhance learning. The Education Centre’s Discovery space uses 360° projection and sound technology to immerse students in virtual chambers, historical events and The Story of Parliament, whilst three of the Centre’s learning spaces are equipped with augmented reality experiences, which see Winston Churchill, the Yeoman Usher, Charles I and Queen Victoria ‘come to life’ in virtual environments.

Voting pods and tablets are used regularly in sessions, and the centre also contains a 3D printer, for printing objects students cannot normally handle or get close to; this is proving particularly effective for tactile learning and Special Educational Needs (SEN) groups. Tablets are also used on the line of route as part of the ‘Adventurer’s Tour’ programme, where KS2 students are tasked with a mission to save democracy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the NHS plans to make minoxidil available to women who have lost their hair.

George Freeman

Minoxidil (Regaine) for the treatment of alopecia is available to purchase ‘over the counter’, without prescription.

Regaine cannot be prescribed in primary care as it is listed in Schedule 1 to the National Health Service (General Medical Service Contracts) (Prescription of Drugs etc.) Regulations 2004 (the ‘blacklist’).

However other minoxidil products are available for clinicians to prescribe if they consider them to be clinically appropriate for an individual patient.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure electric car charging points are accessible across the UK.

Andrew Jones

Plug-in vehicles are generally charged at home and overnight, and so the Government provides grants of up to £500 for the installation of domestic chargepoints. More than 60,000 have been installed to date. The UK also has over 11,000 publicly accessible chargepoints; in streets, car parks and motorway service areas. This includes almost 900 rapid chargepoints that can charge a car in 20-30 minutes – the largest network in Europe.

The Department’s Roads Investment Strategy includes funding of £15m to improve the network of chargepoints on the strategic road network, and the Go Ultra Low city scheme is expected to deliver around 750 more publicly accessible chargepoints in UK towns and cities by 2020. We will announce further targeted support for plug-in vehicle chargepoints in due course.

Government-funded chargepoints must meet a minimum common standard for chargepoint outlets, and include ‘pay as you go’ functionality.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the use of antibiotics.

Jane Ellison

The UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy is an ambitious programme to slow the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance, which was published in 2013. The Strategy aims to prevent infection, protect the antibiotics that we have and promote the development of new drugs and alternative treatments. Each of these initiatives will contribute to reductions in the inappropriate use of antibiotics.

Implementation of our Strategy has met with success in primary care. Between April and December 2015, two million fewer prescriptions were dispensed compared to the same period in 2014, a reduction of 7.9%.

Globally, the United Kingdom has been at the forefront of successful negotiations of the antimicrobial resistance resolution at World Health Organization last year, with equivalent resolutions relating to food and agriculture and animal health. A key part of this work is aimed at reducing the risk of infections and improving antimicrobial stewardship.

We are also aiming to raise the profile of antimicrobial resistance yet higher through a successful high level meeting on antimicrobial resistance at the UN General Assembly in September this year.

Furthermore, we will use the recently published recommendations from Lord O’Neill’s Review on antimicrobial resistance to address the global challenge of unblocking the antibiotic pipeline and reducing unnecessary antibiotic usage in both the human and animal health sectors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the UN Secretary-General’s report on Children and Armed Conflict, published in April 2016, what steps he is taking to ensure that Saudi Arabia and other Coalition states cooperate with the UN to develop and implement an Action Plan to end and prevent such violations.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We note the announcement by the UN Secretary General on 6 June that removed the listing of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition from the report’s annex, pending the conclusion of a joint review by the UN and the Saudi-led Coalition on the cases and numbers cited in the text. We welcome co-operation between the UN and Saudi Arabia to look in to this matter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make representations to Ryanair on the cost of amending boarding passes and other travel documents.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) continue to emphasise to the airlines the importance of compliance with ticket transparency obligations, ensuring that terms and conditions (including any administration fees and charges) are clear to passengers when they choose between airlines.

To enhance consumer protection in this area, the CAA will start work on unfair contract terms with the airlines this summer, in accordance with the CAA’s Strategic Plan 2016-2021. The work will include a review of the airlines’ terms and conditions (Conditions of Carriage) with the aim of ensuring the rights and obligations of the consumers and businesses are fair and balanced and consumers are not being penalised by unfair contract terms. The administration fees the industry currently charges are part of the terms and conditions and as such, will form a part of this work. The Government supports this work and will follow the progress with interest.