The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent steps the Government has taken to improve toy safety.
Anna Soubry
Toy safety is fully addressed by the Toy Safety Regulations 2011. Officials are engaged with the associated standards developed and maintained through the British Standards Institute and monitoring of Trading Standards enforcement activities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children have registered as transgender in each of the last five years.
James Brokenshire
Children born in England or Wales are registered in the birth register as being either male or female. Transgender is not a term used to describe the sex of a child at birth registration.
The Gender Recognition Act 2004 enables transgender people aged 18 or over to apply to the Gender Recognition Panel to obtain a gender recognition certificate – legal recognition of their acquired gender. That certificate is used to create an entry in the Gender Recognition Register, maintained by the Registrar General, from which a new birth certificate can be issued. There are, therefore, no records of children (under the age of 18) in this register.
Gender Recognition Registers are also held in respect of births in Northern Ireland and Scotland by the relevant Registrars General.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps his Department has taken in conjunction with NATO to ensure flexibility in NATO’s capacity to respond to hostile actions.
Mr Julian Brazier
The UK was one of the driving forces behind NATO’s Readiness Action Plan (RAP), agreed at the Wales Summit, which includes tripling the strength of the NATO Response Force (NRF); the creation of a Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) that is able to deploy at very short notice; and enhancing NATO’s Standing Naval Forces.
The UK is fully involved with NATO work to improve the movement of troops and logistic support to the enhanced NRF and VJTF although improvements to and development of road networks remain the responsibility of each member nation.
NATO Allies regularly discuss the progress of the RAP and the capabilities and deployability of our forces; we will do so again at the NATO Defence Ministerial meeting this month.
The UK will contribute to the VJTF in every year between now and 2021 including: a 1,000 strong battle group for the Spanish-led Land VJTF in 2016; we will act as the Land VJTF lead nation in 2017, with 3,000 UK personnel; and in 2020 we will provide a 1,000 battle group to the Polish-led VJTF
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Turkish government on access to the Black Sea for merchant shipping.
Mr David Lidington
No discussions have taken place between the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) and the Turkish government on access to the Black Sea for merchant shipping.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with (a) bodies in the Northern Ireland Assembly and (b) the Northern Ireland Environment Agency on the future of nuclear power in Northern Ireland.
Andrea Leadsom
None of the eight sites listed in the Nuclear National Policy Statement as potentially suitable for new nuclear power stations in the UK is in Northern Ireland. Since the General Election I have had no discussions with bodies in the Northern Ireland Assembly or the Northern Ireland Environment Agency on the future of nuclear power in Northern Ireland.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents there have been of usage of illegal highs in prisons in each of the last five years.
Andrew Selous
We do not tolerate drugs in prison. Prisoners are tested for a range of controlled drugs through our mandatory drug testing (MDT) system, which randomly tests up to 10% of the population in each prison, each month. In addition, prisoners can be subject to testing in response to specific threats. Any prisoner found through MDT to have used controlled drugs will face an internal adjudication and could receive a range of sanctions including days added to their time in custody.
We have begun a pilot to expand this testing to include new psychoactive substances and in April we plan to introduce this across the prison estate. We have also introduced new legislation to counter the smuggling of NPS into prisons and are training 300 sniffer dogs to detect NPS.
The table below shows the number of positive MDT tests for illegal drugs over the past five financial years.
|
Year |
Number of positive MDT tests |
|
2010/11 |
10324 |
|
2011/12 |
10268 |
|
2012/13 |
9956 |
|
2013/14 |
8659 |
|
2014/15 |
6742 |
Notes:
Table shows instances where a prisoner has tested positive for a controlled drug, one of amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepine, cannabis, cocaine, heroin, opiates, methadone and buprenorphine.
Where a prisoner is found to have used more than one substance, a separate positive will be reported for each substance found to have been used.
Includes MDT tests arising from all prison MDT programmes including random, suspicion, at risk, frequent and reception testing
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what representations he has received concerning paintings left by Sir Hugh Lane to the National Gallery.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy met with Paul McGuinness, Roy Foster and Sir Donnell Deeny in September to discuss the bequest left by Sir Hugh Lane to the National Gallery. The department has received no other representation concerning the bequest.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to prevent EU health tourism.
Alistair Burt
Since its inception in 2013, the Department’s Visitor and Migrant NHS Cost Recovery Programme has been working to design and implement key improvements to ensure that those people who should pay for National Health Service care are identified and charged.
Achievements include:
– The launch of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) reporting incentive on 1 October 2014. All EHIC activity correctly reported by NHS secondary providers, so that the UK is able to make appropriate reimbursement claims from other member states, allows them to access an additional 25% funding;
– The revision of the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations which came into force on 6 April 2015, reducing the number of exemption from charge categories and realigning the Regulations to the principle that the NHS is a residency-based healthcare system; and
– Support and engagement with NHS providers through meetings with senior trust employees and the launch of a cost recovery support team to provide bespoke assistance to trusts to improve their processes for identifying chargeable patients and recovering funds owed, including those from Europe.
The Department is currently consulting on the extension of charging overseas visitors and migrants using the NHS in England. Part of the consultation proposes to amend the residence definition for EEA nationals, by which they qualify for free NHS treatment in England. The consultation is due to conclude on 7 March 2016.
The Department does not hold information on the cost to the public purse of EU health tourism.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with the Big Lottery Fund on the renewal of the lottery licence.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Gambling Commission is responsible for issuing the licence to run the National Lottery. Camelot currently hold the licence, which runs until 2023. The Commission expects to engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including lottery distributor bodies, during any future licence competition.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal College of Nursing on the health effects of over-use of paracetamol to treat colds and flu.
George Freeman
No such discussions have taken place.