Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to raise awareness of the risks of parents sharing a bed with their baby.

Jane Ellison

The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) published updated guidelines on co-sleeping in December 2014. The guideline advises health professionals to discuss co-sleeping (which can be intentional or unintentional) with parents and carers and inform them that there is an association between co-sleeping (parents or carers sleeping on a bed or sofa or chair with an infant) and Sudden Infant Death.

As part of the Healthy Child Programme, which is provided for all children and their families, health visitors provide information on the risk of sudden infant death including advice on sleeping positions, co-sleeping and room temperature.

Comprehensive advice for parents is also available on the NHS Choices website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the number of days of work lost because of bullying in the workplace in the last 12 months.

Justin Tomlinson

DWP does not tolerate bullying in any form.

Guidance on our approach to dealing with and managing bullying is available to all employees and managers, and our policy is that all cases of bullying should be reported.

DWP capture absence data in a format that is standard across the Civil Service, which is by absence ‘type’. Each absence may have a number of underlying causes, therefore it is not possible to estimate the number of days of work lost because of bullying. Nevertheless, DWP’s current Average Working Days Lost stands at 6.28 which is the lowest it has been in the last 12 months, and down substantially compared to 5 years ago when it stood at 8.2.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on a link between social media and mental health problems.

Alistair Burt

Departmental Ministers meet with representatives from the Royal Colleges regularly and discuss a wide range of issues, including mental health. We know that social media may have an effect of the behaviour and attitudes of people in relation to mental health issues and we are specifically aware of its influence in relation to suicide and self-harm. We are working with the Samaritans and the National Suicide Prevention Alliance to better understand the effect of social media on suicide and self-harm prevention.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent steps he has taken to prevent the loss of UK manufacturing sector jobs.

Anna Soubry

The best way the Government can support manufacturing jobs is to continue to secure a strong, growing economy. The Government continues to invest in our world leading aerospace, automotive, defence, energy and transport sectors that will secure high quality manufacturing jobs.

Around a third of the 2,000 new inward Foreign Direct Investment projects in 2014/15 were in the areas of advanced manufacturing and life sciences and I was pleased to see that UK manufacturing PMI hit its highest level in over a year in October.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with her counterparts in EU member states on the effect of proposed EU legislation on firearms on shooting sports in the UK.

Mike Penning

There is an urgent need to step up efforts to stop guns getting into the hands of criminals and extremists. The Government works closely with other EU Member States and the Commission in taking forward this important work.

The Government will shortly submit a full Explanatory Memorandum for Parliamentary scrutiny. Officials are urgently arranging meetings to discuss the implications of the proposals with a range of organisations, including representatives from shooting organisations and law enforcement. We will consider their input carefully to inform forthcoming negotiations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had on the steps necessary to ensure driverless cars are safe before they are permitted on the road.

Andrew Jones

Officials in the Department for Transport, the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles are engaging on this issue at a national and international level. In July 2015 the Department for Transport published a Code of Practice for driverless cars to help make the UK the best place for testing without placing additional regulatory burden on industry and ensuring safety and security.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assistance the Government is providing to Israel to help prevent knife attacks by Palestinians on Israeli citizens.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Since the start of the current violence we have spoken regularly to both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority on the urgent need to de-escalate the tensions. I discussed the recent violence with the Israeli Charge D’Affaires and officials from the Israeli Ministry of Defence on 24 November. Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv have also discussed the issue of the current violence with the Israeli Head of the Civil Department of the Office for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories on 24 November. However the Government is not providing any assistance to Israel specifically to help prevent knife attacks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many nationals of other countries living in the UK have been convicted of a crime since 30 September 2014; and how many such people came from each country.

Andrew Selous

The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database does not hold the nationality of offenders convicted or sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. Obtaining this information would incur disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to encourage British Muslims to join the armed forces to tackle ISIL.

Penny Mordaunt

The Ministry of Defence is working up plans to meet the Government’s commitment to increase the number of black, Asian, ethnic minority (BAME) recruits into the Armed Forces to 10% by 2020, and have allocated additional resources for this purpose.

Diversity and inclusion is a Defence Board priority and we recognise that there are challenges we need to address and we are engaging with all communities that are under-represented in the Armed Forces to consider ways and means of doing so.

Some examples of actions we have taken that are aimed at increasing BAME, including Muslim, recruitment are:

Highlighting the benefits of a career in the Armed Forces including the ability to develop a trade or gain professional skills; as well as being a force for good, for example through conducting humanitarian operations.

Trying to build mutual understanding between the Armed Forces and local communities including highlighting the role that Muslims have played in operations from World War One to the present day.

Tackling the perception that there are no role models for Muslims in the Armed Forces.

The Armed Forces have recently (October 2015) won two of the seven awards being presented at the Race for Opportunity Awards. The Armed Forces Muslim Association, of which the Chief of Defence Staff is patron, won the Public Sector Employee Network Award and the Royal Air Force won the Future Workforce Award for their STEM/Employability Skills programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for NHS diagnosis and treatment services of the findings of research indicating that women who have severe pre-menstrual tension are significantly more likely to develop high blood pressure.

Jane Ellison

This research was published on 25 November by the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Contributions to the evidence base are welcomed, but any recommendations for NHS clinical practice will be made on the basis of consideration of the research by clinical advisory bodies.