The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what financial support his Department has committed for accommodation for the Quick Reaction Force project for Jordan.
Penny Mordaunt
We have spent £709,800 on accommodation for the Quick Reaction Force project on Jordan. This is based on an exchange rate of £1=1.10 Jordanian Dinar.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Open Doors World Watch List on the persecution of Christians, what discussions his Department has had with the Jordanian government on ensuring that Christians in that country are not persecuted.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We have had discussions with the Jordanian Government on the status of Christians and other religions in Jordan. The Jordanian Government and His Majesty King Abdullah II are explicit about the need for religious tolerance, as demonstrated by King Abdullah’s 22 December 2015 message to the nation on the occasion of Christmas and the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that the manufacturing sector in Northern Ireland is able to contribute to the UK aerospace industry.
Anna Soubry
We continue to work closely with the aerospace industry in Northern Ireland through the UK wide Aerospace Growth Partnership to tackle barriers to growth, boost exports and grow high value jobs. This work is integral to the Northern Ireland growth implementation strategy ‘Partnering for Growth’ led by Invest Northern Ireland and supported by the industry body ADS. It includes action to support industry in innovation and technology development, strengthening the competitiveness and manufacturing capability of suppliers and raising skills levels
The steps taken to back this work include a £1.95 billion commitment by the Government, over 13 years to 2026, for new aerospace research and development projects supported by the Aerospace Technology InstituteMy Department and the Northern Ireland Executive are also investing a total of almost £135 million in the development of the C Series aircraft supporting hundreds of jobs in Belfast at Bombardier Aerostructures and Engineering Services and its UK supply chain.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many organ transplants there have been in each of the last five years.
Jane Ellison
The information on the number of successful and unsuccessful organ transplants performed in each of the last five years is shown in the following table. This includes single and multi-organ transplants containing kidney, pancreas, liver, heart, lung and/or intestinal from both deceased and living donors.
Although deceased donor rates were lower in 2014/15, data show that deceased donor rates for 2015/16 have exceeded 2014/15 rates. The official data are due to published in summer 2016.
Organ Transplants in the United Kingdom, 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2015
|
Financial year |
Total number of organ transplants |
Number of unsuccessful1 transplants |
% unsuccessful |
|
2010/2011 |
3,751 |
127 |
3.4% |
|
2011/2012 |
3,971 |
131 |
3.3% |
|
2012/2013 |
4,221 |
127 |
3.0% |
|
2013/2014 |
4,656 |
143 |
3.1% |
|
2014/2015 |
4,433 |
122 |
2.8% |
Source: NHS Blood and Transplant
Notes:
1Unsuccessful has been defined as failed within the first two weeks after transplantation. This figure is based on 98% of transplant recipients where the two week post-transplant outcome is known.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to help free Andargachew Tsige.
James Duddridge
The Government takes the detention and welfare of Mr Andargachew Tsege, who was transferred from Yemen and is imprisoned in Ethiopia, very seriously. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has raised Mr Tsege’s case 21 times with his Ethiopian counterpart. I have also raised this case most recently on 8 January. Our focus has been on lobbying for Mr Tsege to have access to a lawyer and a legal route through which he can challenge his detention. We will continue to lobby the Ethiopian government until Mr Tsege is given access to a lawyer, and our concerns about the process by which Mr Tsege was transferred to Ethiopia have been fully addressed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Russian language (a) speakers, (b) interpreters and (c) translators are employed in the intelligence department of his Department; and what steps he is taking to increase the number of such experts in that Department.
Mark Lancaster
The Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Russian language needs for intelligence, or for any other purposes, are met from the Departmental pool of approximately 180 Armed Forces and civilian personnel with Russian language skills (and from contractors when needed). The Department reviews its future operational and other requirements for linguists regularly and trains its personnel accordingly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of a possible relationship between the activities of Boko Haram and those of armed Fulani herders in Nigeria.
James Duddridge
We are concerned by reports of recurrent clashes involving pastoralists and local farmers over land, farming rights, grazing routes and access to water in Nigeria, in particular in the centre of the country. We continue to call on all parties to find a peaceful solution to the underlying causes of these incidents.
Boko Haram is known to cooperate with criminal gangs and use illicit networks to facilitate the movement of weapons and persons in the region. However, we have no evidence that Boko Haram is involved in these violent clashes.
Together with international partners, we will continue supporting Nigeria, and its neighbours to tackle threats to regional stability.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to encourage people to reduce the symptoms of diabetes using exercise and diet.
Jane Ellison
In March 2016, Public Health England (PHE) launched One You, an integrated social marketing campaign to engage adults in making changes to improve their own health and so help them reduce the risk of conditions such as diabetes. The programme encourages adults in mid-life to make a number of lifestyle changes including taking more exercise, improving diet, stopping smoking and reducing alcohol consumption.
Additionally, PHE’s Change4Life campaign encourages families across England to “eat well, move more, live longer”. Type 2 diabetes is highlighted in the campaign as a potential health consequence of poor diet and inactivity.
NHS England, Public Health England and Diabetes UK have been working together on the Healthier You: the Diabetes Prevention Programme (NDPP). By 2020, the programme will be made available to up to 100,000 people at risk of diabetes each year across England. Those referred will get tailored, personalised help to reduce their risk including education on healthy eating and lifestyle and bespoke physical exercise programmes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with BT on the time taken to repair faulty telephone lines.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Ministers have raised the issue of the time taken for service requests and repairs with senior management at BT and Openreach.
Government supports the measures Ofcom announced in its Digital Communications Review to address the problem across all communication service providers, including: raising minimum standards for the time taken to install new lines and make repairs; and encouraging proactive behaviour in the maintenance of the network. Government expects Openreach’s performance to be consistently above the minimum standard.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to reduce bed-blocking in hospitals.
Alistair Burt
To reduce bed-blocking we are working closely with NHS England, NHS Improvement, Local Government Association, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Department for Communities and Local Government, to provide a wide ranging package of support to help local areas improve transfers out of hospital and reduce delays.
The Government is giving local authorities access to up to £3.5 billion of new support for social care by 2019/20. In 2016-17, there is also a new Better Care Fund requirement on local areas to develop a clear, focused action plan for managing delays, including locally agreed targets. The requirement is designed to reduce delays across the health and care system.