Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will hold discussions with credit card companies on steps to support people who have large credit card debts related to shopping.

Simon Kirby

The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, which includes the credit card sector. Consumer credit regulation transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014.

The FCA is currently undertaking a thorough review of the credit card market through its ‘credit card market study’. The market study is investigating three areas, one of which is the extent of unaffordable credit card debt. On 3 November 2015 the FCA published its interim report which found that the market was working reasonably well for most customers. However, the FCA expressed concern about the scale of potentially problematic debt in this sector, and the incentives for firms to manage this.

The interim report also included the FCA’s early thinking on potential remedies which include measures to give consumers more control over their credit limits, measures to encourage customers to pay off debt quicker when they can afford to, and proposals that firms do more to identify earlier those consumers who may be struggling to repay and take action to help them manage their repayments. The FCA is currently asking for feedback on the findings and potential remedies.

The Government is looking forward to the final report in Q3 2016, and would encourage interested parties to give their views to the FCA to assist it in addressing the issues it has identified.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to improve the training available to medical practitioners on the treatment of people with chronic diseases.

Mr Philip Dunne

It is the responsibility of the professional regulators, such as the General Medical Council (GMC), to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This includes training in the treatment of people with chronic diseases.

Higher Education Institutions are responsible for ensuring the programmes they provide allow healthcare students to meet the outcomes set out by the regulators upon graduation.

The Royal Colleges, for example the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Surgeons, also have responsibility for developing curricula for doctors and nurses, in particular postgraduate curricula.

In England, Health Education England works with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the Royal Colleges to seek to ensure training meets the needs of patients, including those with chronic diseases.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the UN on forced organ harvesting in China.

Alok Sharma

The Government has no plans to make representations to the UN on organ harvesting in China. We pay close attention to the human rights situation in China, including allegations of organ harvesting and encourage China to implement its public commitment to stop the use of organs from prisoners. Our current assessment of the human rights situation in China can be found in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect of the single-tier state pension on the level of income of widows.

Richard Harrington

Under the new State Pension over three million women stand to receive an average of £11 a week more State Pension by 2030.

Around four percent of women reaching State Pension age in the first ten years following implementation will be affected by ending access to a derived basic pension while still married and/or when widowed. The proportion falls to two percent or less for succeeding cohorts. We are not able to provide an impact specifically on widows as the analysis does not separately identify the proportion of those who are affected only while married because they predecease their spouse.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce (a) trolling and (b) cyber-bullying.

Sarah Newton

We continue to make tackling all forms of bullying, including cyberbullying, a priority. All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy with measures to tackle bullying among pupils, including cyberbullying.

Since September 2014 e-safety has been taught at all four key stages of the curriculum. We have made sure schools have the power to search for, and if necessary delete, inappropriate images (or files) on electronic devices, including mobile phones.

We have invested £3.85 million in a new phase of our This is Abuse campaign, which tackles abuse within teenage relationships and was launched in March. The National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) has developed a comprehensive education programme, called Thinkuknow, which provides targeted advice to children, parents and carers, including on how to use social media safely.

We have taken action to improve the police response to online abuse. Since the introduction of the College of Policing’s Cyber Crime Training course in February 2014 over 150,000 modules have been completed across all forces and, in September last year, the College of Policing launched the second phase of its Mainstream Cyber Crime Training course for police forces.

Additionally, over 3,900 National Crime Agency officers have completed Digital Awareness training as part of equipping the next generation of highly skilled digital detectives. 1,200 Digital Media Investigators have been trained over the past 18 months.

Work is under way to ensure the appropriate recording of digital crime and abuse. The Home Office launched a mandatory ‘online’ flag as part of the police recorded crime data collection from April 2015. These data are currently in development and will be published in due course.

The Crown Prosecution Service annual Violence Against Women and Girls Report published on September 6 shows that there have been more offences prosecuted under section 127 of the Communications Act and section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988. Under s.127, in 2015-16 there was a rise in prosecutions related to grossly offensive or indecent communications to 2,026. In total the offences under s.127 of the Communications Act rose by 13% and s.1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988 by 32%. There have also been 206 prosecutions for the new offence of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government has issued guidance to the Aviation Authority on fire risks related to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.

Mr John Hayes

The Civil Aviation Authority issued guidance on 9 September advising air travel passengers to ensure their Samsung Galaxy Note 7 mobile phones remain switched off for the duration of their flight.

The guidance has also been drawn to the attention of aircraft operators.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to encourage children not to access indecent images on social media.

Matt Hancock

The UK is a world leader in child online safety, with legal protections against abuse and illegal content, and tools for parents and children to avoid content they do not wish to see. The UK Council for Child Internet Safety, (https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/uk-council-for-child-internet-safety-ukccis) set up in 2008, brings Government together with key stakeholders to help to keep children and young people safe online. We also have a strong track-record in working with the internet industries to drive progress. We have introduced legislation in the Digital Economy bill to require age verification controls for access to online pornographic material provided on a commercial basis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support women suffering side-effects from hormone replacement therapy.

Nicola Blackwood

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is used to alleviate the symptoms of the menopause. The known side effects of HRT products are provided in the patient information leaflet which accompanies the medicine. Medically serious side effects of HRT affect a small number of women and include increased risks of breast and ovarian cancer and blood clots (venous thromboembolism, VTE), which are treated in clinical practice if they occur.

Due to these risks the advice since 2004 is that decision to start, continue or stop HRT should be made jointly by a woman and her doctor, based on the known risks and benefits and her own personal circumstances, including her age, her need for treatment and her medical risk factors, and that the lowest effective dose of HRT should be used for the shortest possible time with regular review of treatment.

The National Health Service publishes information online at NHS Choices about the menopause including the benefits and risks of HRT and alternative treatments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of food poisoning in chickens.

Nicola Blackwood

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is working with industry to tackle Campylobacter, the most common source of foodborne illness, through the Acting on Campylobacter Together campaign. The FSA has agreed a joint industry target of achieving no more than 10% of birds contaminated at over 1,000 Campylobacter colony forming units per gram (viable cells) at the end of the slaughterhouse line. Using this target, together with the ongoing publication of surveillance results of Campylobacter contamination in fresh whole chickens at retail, the FSA is encouraging industry to implement interventions to reduce contamination levels. This has resulted in a downwards trend of the Campylobacter levels on chickens sold at retail. Additionally, the FSA continues to provide guidance for consumers on the measures that they can take to reduce their risk of spreading and contracting Campylobacter poisoning from raw poultry in the home.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions his Department has had with (a) East Border Region, (b) Rural Community Networks and (c) other community groups in Northern Ireland as part of the preparations for the negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Robin Walker

The Government will ensure that all views can be reflected in our analysis of the options for the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union and we are going to listen and talk to as many organisations, companies and institutions as possible to do this. The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union visited Northern Ireland on 1 September and I visited on 5-7 October. We engaged with the Northern Ireland Executive and key representatives of businesses and civil society, including roundtables with the retail, hospitality and agrifood sectors and the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action. I have also had discussions with Northern Ireland Executive Ministers for Justice, Communities and Infrastructure. Details of Ministerial meetings will be published in the Department’s Quarterly Transparency Returns, which will be made publicly available on GOV.UK.

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