Tag: Jim Shannon

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 counterpart in the Israeli government on the prevention of attacks by Palestinians on Israelis.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are deeply concerned by the recent violence across the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel. We have had a number of discussions about this matter with the Israeli authorities over recent weeks. On 19 November, our Ambassador to Tel Aviv discussed the ongoing violence with Gilad Erdan, the Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs, Public Security and Information. On 24 November, I raised this issue with the Israeli Chargé d’Affaires and officials from Israel’s Ministry of Defence.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many women have suffered from hair loss in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

Data for the number of women with hair loss is not collected.

The number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) for women with a primary diagnosis of hair loss in each of the last five years is provided in the following table.

Year	FAEs
2010-11	578
2011-12	551
2012-13	640
2013-14	676
2014-15	633

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, Health and Social Care Information Centre

Notes:

1. The data are a count of admissions rather than a count of people, as the same person may have been admitted on more than one occasion.
2. The data only include activity in National Health Service hospitals in England, and do not include activity in private clinics unless they are NHS-commissioned or in a primary care setting.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will have discussions with pub chains on training staff to identify people with suicidal tendencies in order to stop serving such people alcohol.

Anna Soubry

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has no plans to undertake such discussions but as part of the continuing programme of work to support the government’s suicide prevention strategy, Public Health England has published guidance for local authorities to develop local suicide prevention action plans. The guidance suggests that local authorities establish a local suicide prevention group and work with relevant organisations in their area to co-ordinate activities to reduce suicide. Those groups can work with landlords and pub managers.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to tackle obesity in children under 11.

Jane Ellison

Tackling obesity, particularly in children, is one of our major priorities. Progress has been made in recent years, but we know we have much further to go. We will announce our plans for tackling childhood obesity in the new year.

In the meantime we are continuing to invest in the Change4Life campaign, which provides motivation and support for families to make small but significant improvements to their diets and activity levels. Industry has also taken a range of actions including removing billions of calories and tons of sugar from products and portion sizes have been reduced, but the challenge to industry to make further substantial progress remains.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal College of Nursing on the link between the speed of a person’s walk and dementia.

Jane Ellison

Improving dementia research, improving the treatment and care of people with dementia and reducing the incidence of dementia, is a key priority for the government. That is why in February 2015, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia 2020 as a successor to the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2012-2015.

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had and continues to have discussions with a range of organisations about dementia including its signs and symptoms.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recently published a guideline which makes recommendations on approaches in mid‑life to delay or prevent the onset of dementia, disability and frailty in later life.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans the Government has to support the rebuilding of Syria after the end of the conflict in that country.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK has been at the forefront of the international response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. We have committed over £1.1 billion to date, making us the second largest bilateral donor to the international response.

The UK is now updating our planning to reflect the timeline envisaged in the Vienna political process and are asking others to do the same. The scale of the task will be enormous, complex and take a long time to complete. The UK’s response will therefore be part of a wider international effort.

The initial priorities will be to support stabilisation and transition including safety and security, reconciliation, transitional justice and confidence building measures. Meeting protection and basic needs will remain a priority, along with helping displaced persons to return. We will also look to build local governance structures in liberated areas. Over time the focus will shift to longer-term reconstruction, which includes the re-building of Syria’s shattered infrastructure, economy, services, and society. The expertise of the UN, International Financial Institutions and the private sector will be essential.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the government of Romania on (a) improving media freedom and media pluralism in that country and (b) the activities of (i) Central Media Enterprise, (ii) Adrian Sârbu and (iii) Ronald Lauder.

Mr David Lidington

The British Embassy in Bucharest continues to follow the issue of media freedom in Romania, given its impact on the quality of democracy and on the rule of law. As part of the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), to which Romania has been subject since its EU accession, the European Commission has called on Romania to “review existing standards to safeguard a free and pluralist media”. We have worked closely with the European Commission and the Romanian government in encouraging full implementation of CVM recommendations including on the relationship between the media and state institutions. The Department has had no recent discussions with the government of Romania on the activities of Central Media Enterprise, Adrian Sarbu or Ronald Lauder.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve the personal fitness and health of police officers.

Mike Penning

The Winsor review of police officer and staff pay and conditions, which the Home Secretary commissioned, recommended in March 2012 that fitness testing should be introduced. Following consideration by the Police Advisory Board, mandatory fitness testing was implemented on 1 September 2014.

The management of initiatives that support officers to improve fitness is a matter for individual police forces and the College of Policing has issued guidance in this area.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to develop a shared strategy across the UK for tackling sexually transmitted diseases.

Jane Ellison

The Department set out its ambitions on sexual health, including tackling sexually transmitted diseases, in its Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England (2013); a copy is attached.

As health is a devolved matter Ministers do not regularly discuss these issues, however research and evidence of best practice is made available throughout the United Kingdom.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on religious education as a compulsory part of the school curriculum.

Nick Gibb

The government firmly believes in the importance of religious education (RE).

RE is a compulsory subject for all pupils up to the age of 18 in state funded schools. For schools without a religious character, the RE curriculum needs to reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are, in the main, Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain.