The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of treating endometriosis in the last year.
Jane Ellison
This information is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has plans to encourage the planting of trees to enhance the visual amenity of farmland.
Rory Stewart
This Government is committed to planting 11 million trees over the course of this Parliament, creating 24,711 acres of new woodland. This will be delivered by £31m per year of new Rural Development Programme funding that will be spent on forestry. £13m will be spent on woodland management and £18m on new planting. Farmers and landowners will be eligible to apply for the scheme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were recruited to the (a) army, (b) Royal Air Force, (c) Royal Navy and (d) reserve forces in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.
Mr Philip Dunne
The following tables show the number of people recruited into each Service of the Armed Forces in Northern Ireland in each of the last five financial years (FY).
Royal Navy: Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Marine (RM) personnel recruited through Armed Forces Career Office, Northern Ireland
|
FY |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
2014-15 |
|
Regular (RN and RM) |
40 |
40 |
45 |
60 |
45 |
|
Reserve (RNR and RMR) |
35 |
20 |
25 |
25 |
20 |
Army
|
FY |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
2014-15 |
|
Regular |
250 |
290 |
270 |
200 |
200 |
|
Reserve |
190 |
380 |
280 |
90 |
90 |
Note: information is based on the post code on the applicants contact address.
RAF: Regular Other Ranks Recruitment through Armed Forces Careers Office, Belfast
|
FY |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
2014-15 |
|
Other Ranks |
10 |
10 |
10 |
20 |
20 |
Note: Information relating to Officer and Aircrew recruitment in Northern Ireland is not available.
RAF Reserve Recruitment
|
FY |
2010-11 |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
2013-14 |
2014-15 |
|
Reserves |
~ |
– |
– |
20* |
60* |
Note:
~ = Information not available.
*= estimated figures.
Figures have been rounded to 10. Numbers ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias.
The data on Reserves supersedes the estimated figures for the Royal Navy and the Army provided on 20 October 2015 by my hon. Friend the Minister for Reserves (Julian Brazier) in response to Question 11479 to the hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome in each of the last five years.
Jane Ellison
The information requested is not collected.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Pakistani counterpart on the persecution of Christians in that country.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We remain concerned about the persecution of religious and other minorities in Pakistan, including Christians. In August, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised religious freedom and human rights with Interior Minister Nisar. In June, I conveyed our concern about minorities in Pakistan to the Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK.
We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to meet its international obligations to uphold the human rights of all its citizens. Our concerns about minorities in Pakistan are documented in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual Human Rights Report.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on the introduction of a 10 year firearms licence.
Mike Penning
The Home Office has received representations from one organisation on the introduction of a 10 year firearms licence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent support his Department has provided to building construction firms to ensure their bills are paid on time.
Nick Boles
Late payment remains an important issue for small businesses in the UK. The Government is taking significant steps to assist small businesses to recover late payment debts.
Through the Enterprise Bill, currently before Parliament, we will legislate to establish a Small Business Commissioner to help small business resolve disputes with large companies, tackling, in particular, late payment. The Commissioner will act as a disincentive to unfavourable payment practices, and build the confidence and capabilities of small businesses to help them to assert themselves in contractual disputes and negotiate more effectively with larger businesses.
This is part of a package of measures to tackle late payment. We have also legislated for new transparency measures in the public and private sectors. This will allow full public scrutiny of payment performance.
We have also strengthened the Prompt Payment Code to ensure it is a recognised and demonstrated beacon of best practice, and we recently consulted on proposals to give representative bodies wider powers to challenge grossly unfair payment practices.
Government promotes fair payment practices in construction through legislation (the “Construction Act”), the use of public procurement (promoting prompt payment to Tier 3 and the use of Project Bank Accounts), and by working with the industry through voluntary measures (such as the Prompt Payment Code and the Construction Leadership Council’s Payment Charter).
The Payment Charter includes a commitment of zero retentions by 2025. To support this work, the Government recently announced a review of the practice of cash retentions under construction contracts.
Tackling late payment is about creating a responsible payment culture where larger companies recognise the benefit of having a sustainable and robust supply chain, and smaller businesses feel able to challenge poor behaviour. Once implemented, the Government is confident that these measures will lead to significant changes in the UK’s payment culture.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what medication is available on the NHS for chronic fatigue syndrome.
Jane Ellison
No assessment has been made of the number of people who have been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in the last year.
In 2007 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) produced the clinical guidance Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy): Diagnosis and management of CFS/ME in adults and children, which estimates that the annual prevalence is approximately 4,000 cases per million of the population.
There is no medication available to specifically treat CFS, however the NICE guidance recommends that pharmacological pain relief may be appropriate for the relief of chronic pain that the condition can cause. Other methods of treatment that may be of benefit are cognitive behavioural therapy, graded exercise therapy or activity management. The guidance can be found at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg53
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what representations the UK has made to other NATO member states on committing two per cent of their gross domestic product to defence.
Michael Fallon
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) to Question 13408 on 30 October 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to encourage people to walk for up to 30 minutes a day.
Jane Ellison
The Government recognises that walking is a key part of being active. The UK Chief Medical Officers’ physical activity guidelines for adults recommending 150 minutes of physical activity every week, identify walking as the easiest way of building physical activity into everyday life. To raise awareness of the guidelines, we have recently created an infographic for health professionals to use when they discuss physical activity with their patients. We have made walking a key part of the recommended activity.
Following the Infrastructure Act 2015, the Department of Health has also been working closely with Department of Transport on plans which will underpin the first Cycling and Walking Delivery Plan to be published in the summer. This will take forward the vision set out in the Cycling Delivery Plan 2014, to make walking and cycling the natural choices for short journeys or as part of a longer journey.