Tag: Jim Shannon

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of when lens implants to prevent age-related macular degeneration will be available on the NHS.

Alistair Burt

No such estimate has been made. Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for the commissioning of ophthalmic services in secondary care. Where National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance does not exist on a particular treatment, it is for commissioners to make funding decisions based on an assessment of the available evidence and on the basis of an individual patient’s clinical circumstances.

NHS Commissioners are required to have in place clear and transparent arrangements for local decision-making on the funding of treatments and for considering exceptional funding requests.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with both TB and HIV receive joined-up care.

Jane Ellison

The Department recognises that joined up care for people with tuberculosis (TB) and HIV, as with other areas of comorbidity or coinfection management, is important. In NHS England’s specialised services, service specifications exist for HIV and for infectious diseases and both make reference to the importance of referral pathways and network arrangements to meet the needs of patients.

Separate to NHS England’s commissioning of joined up care for people with TB and HIV, treatment and care services for co-infected sufferers take account of the reference guideline, “British HIV Association guidelines for the treatment of TB/HIV coinfection 2011”, which recommends that patients with both HIV and TB are managed by a multidisciplinary team with expertise in both TB and HIV. A link to this guideline is at:

http://www.bhiva.org/documents/Guidelines/TB/hiv_954_online_final.pdf

The role of a TB specialist nurse and multidisciplinary team is essential in the management of co-infected patients.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of when Tolvaptan will be available through the NHS to treat autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

George Freeman

Tolvaptan (Jinarc) became available through the National Health Service following its launch in the United Kingdom in June 2015.

In October, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published technology appraisal guidance recommending tolvaptan as a treatment for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease where certain conditions are met.

NHS commissioners are legally required to fund drugs and treatments recommended by NICE technology appraisals within three months of the NICE technology appraisal guidance being published.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people were diagnosed with primary refractory acute megakaryoblastic leukaemia 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 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive on implementing the conclusions of the COP21 climate conference in Paris.

Andrea Leadsom

My rt hon Friend, the Secretary of State regularly engages her colleagues in the Devolved Administrations on UK energy and climate change policies and supported the attendance of Ministers from each Devolved Administration at the UN Conference of Parties in Paris last year as part of the UK delegation, including the Northern Ireland minister for the environment, Mark Durkan.

The Agreement reached in Paris is an historic step forward, committing almost 200 countries to action to which they will be held to account for the first time ever.

In line with the obligations under the Climate Change Act 2008, the Government is committed to tackling climate change in line with our carbon budgets.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to regulate advertising by payday loan companies; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The Government has fundamentally reformed the regulation of the consumer credit market, including payday lending, transferring regulatory responsibility from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the FCA on 1 April 2014. The Government is concerned about consumer detriment in the payday market and believes the FCA’s, more robust regulatory system is helping to improve protections for consumers. It is important that consumers are protected from unfair costs. The Government therefore legislated to require the FCA to introduce a cap on the cost of payday loans – which came into force on the 2 January 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been diagnosed with meningitis in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England (PHE) collects data on laboratory confirmed cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) which is a major cause of bacterial meningitis in England. The data do not distinguish between IMD presentation as meningitis or septicaemia. National data on the number of cases of IMD in England are published by PHE based on the number of laboratory confirmed cases.

Table 1: Number of laboratory confirmed cases of IMD in England by epidemiological year: 2010/11 to 2014/15.

	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
Cases of IMD	1,009	730	769	636	724

Source: PHE Health Protection Report, 2015

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to encourage larger companies to make payments to small and medium-sized enterprises on time.

Anna Soubry

The Government recognises that late payment remains an important issue for small businesses in the UK and is taking significant steps to assist small businesses to recover late payment debts. This is part of a package of measures to tackle late payment. We have also legislated for new transparency measures in the private sector.

The Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 legislated for a new reporting requirement on the UK’s largest companies and Regulations will be introduced this year which will compel larger companies to report on payment practices and performance. This information will be published on a six-monthly basis and will be made publicly available.

Through the Enterprise Bill, currently before Parliament, we will legislate to establish a Small Business Commissioner to give general advice and to help small businesses resolve disputes relating to payment matters with larger businesses.

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 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are being taken in primary schools to address obesity.

Edward Timpson

A number of measures are already helping to address obesity in primary schools in England. The Government has committed over £600 million per year to funding free school meals for all pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2, providing nutritious meals every day and helping to form good eating habits early. The School Food Standards, introduced in 2015, ensure that healthy food is provided throughout the school day and severely restrict fat and sugar. We will continue to invest £150 million per year until 2020 to improve the quality of PE and sport in primary schools. PE is compulsory at all four key stages in the national curriculum for maintained schools.

The Government will launch its childhood obesity strategy shortly. It will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will also set out what more can be done by all sides, including schools.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his most recent estimate is of the number of migrants entering the EU; and what the proportion is of those migrants who are entering the UK.

Mr Rob Wilson

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