Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on the foraging of food in natural habitats.

Rory Stewart

Species targeted for wild food foraging are generally common and widespread. These species that are deemed at risk are protected by the provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Guidelines on the picking of edible fungi can be accessed at http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/Eng_NF_FungiCode.pdf/$file/Eng_NF_FungiCode.pdf

Any proposals for wild food foraging on sites of special scientific interest in England would require consent from Natural England.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had on preventing an outbreak of cholera in Syria.

Mr Desmond Swayne

The UK remains concerned about the possible spread of cholera from Iraq into Syria. Aid agencies inside Syria and across the region are in the process of finalising a cholera contingency plan to be implemented in the event of an outbreak and are proactively prepositioning supplies in relevant locations. The UK is monitoring the situation closely and is in regular contact with Health partners inside Syria, including the World Health Organisation and UNICEF.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on how many sets of British brothers were killed in the First World War.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence no longer holds information on this subject. Service records from the First World War that have survived are held at the National Archives at Kew.

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.