The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to make available on the NHS the treatment of lymph nodes to ease the pain of women with breast cancer.
Jane Ellison
Lymph nodes are often one of the first sites to which cancer spreads. Therefore, treatment and, in some cases, removal of lymph nodes is standard practice across the National Health Service to treat cancers which have spread locally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that people aged over 50 are protected from (a) household and (b) vehicle insurance scams.
Harriett Baldwin
The Government takes insurance fraud very seriously and has taken significant action in this area to protect consumers.
The Government set up the Insurance Fraud Taskforce in January 2015 to investigate the causes of fraudulent behaviour and recommend solutions to reduce the level of insurance fraud, including household and vehicle insurance scams, in order to ultimately lower costs and protect the interests of honest consumers. Its interim report was published in March 2015 and a final report will be published shortly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the programme to reintroduce the great bustard on Salisbury plain.
Rory Stewart
This project is run by the independent Great Bustard Group. I understand that by the end of 2016 there should be enough evidence available on the survival and dispersal of the birds to know whether the population on Salisbury Plain can successfully rear new birds to join the adult population.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the spread of hepatitis C.
Jane Ellison
The Department recognises the public health importance of hepatitis C in the United Kingdom. Following a Tuberculosis/Hepatitis C summit held in London in March, Public Health England (PHE) has a comprehensive range of measures in place to tackle the spread of hepatitis C through surveillance, research, advocacy and commissioning-support activities. PHE is working with local authorities on action plans and work programmes to drive improvements in the prevention, awareness raising, diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C across the UK at a local level.
These activities are undertaken by PHE’s local and national teams and in collaboration with NHS England and third sector partners. The Department works with NHS England to identify the most appropriate way to commission services, to ensure that the right cohorts of patients are able to access treatment when they need it. Particularly in the patients with liver disease from hepatitis C, access to care has specific challenges, and commissioning services will aim to reduce any inequities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on ensuring that children have access to the countryside and learn about wildlife.
Rory Stewart
The Secretary of State is working closely with Department for Education Ministers to ensure the national curriculum gives all children the opportunity to learn about nature and the environment. In particular, we are providing more opportunities for school children to plant, care for and learn about trees. This will give young children the chance to understand and connect with nature, and play a role in making their school grounds and local communities cleaner and greener.
Defra, Natural England and English Heritage have also funded the Natural Connections project which aims to increase the number of school- aged children experiencing the full range of benefits that come from learning in local natural environments. The approach is being piloted in 5 areas across the South West of England and has involved 125 schools.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from Pakistan applied for asylum under the detained fast-track procedure for reasons of religious persecution and discrimination in each of the last three years.
James Brokenshire
The basis of an individual’s asylum claim is not recorded on Home Office systems. It is not therefore possible to differentiate Pakistani applicants claiming for reasons of religious persecution and discrimination from Pakistani applicants claiming for one or more other reasons in the Detained Fast Track (DFT) or the non-detained process.
Certification under section 94 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 is not requested by an applicant. It is applied by the Secretary of State in circumstances where the applicant’s claim is refused and considered to be so lacking in merit as to be clearly unfounded.
The number of initial certified refusals for Pakistan main asylum applicants, from year ending September 2013 to year ending September 2015, was 604. The Home Office publishes data on asylum applications and decisions on a quarterly and annual basis. The information supplied on certified refusals is based on initial decisions which do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same period.
No assessment has been made of any difference that might exist between grant rates in respect of Pakistani applicants in the DFT process when it operated, and cases entering the non-detained process at the same time. However, as the DFT process avoided claims involving particular complexity and/or vulnerability, and prioritised cases which appeared to be late or opportunistic, it is to be expected that the DFT would have fewer grants than the non-detained process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on allegations of doping in athletics.
Tracey Crouch
Both my Department and UK Anti-Doping engage regularly with international counterparts to discuss a range of sporting matters, including tackling doping in sport.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to increase the level of home ownership relative to other EU countries.
Brandon Lewis
This Government is committed to increasing opportunities to help people achieve the aspiration of home ownership. Almost 270,000 people have been helped to buy a home since 2010 using government-backed schemes. In the Autumn Statement we announced that the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme will be extended for five years to 2021 with £8.6 billion of additional funding. This will assist the sale of up to 145,000 more new-build homes. We will also launch London Help to Buy in early 2016, increasing the equity loan in London from up to 20% to up to 40%, in recognition of the specific affordability issues resulting from higher house prices in the capital.
The Autumn Statement also confirmed a total of £8 billion for over 400,000 affordable homes, including £4.1 billion for 135,000 new Shared Ownership homes. This also includes delivery of 200,000 Starter Homes at a 20% discount for young first time buyers, with £2.3 billion committed to supporting these. As well as reinvigorating the Right to Buy in 2012, we have secured a historic deal with housing associations to give their tenants the opportunity to buy their home with an equivalent discount to the Right to Buy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative assessment he has made of the potential economic benefit to the north of England of faster rail links between north and south and better connectivity within the north of England.
Andrew Jones
The Department and Transport for North (TfN) are currently developing options for delivering the transformational rail connectivity in the north of England set out in the Northern Transport Strategy, and aim to have an understanding of the relative scale of costs and benefits of these options in autumn 2016.
As outlined in the recent HS2 Economic Case published in November 2015, the benefits of the full HS2 Y-Network are estimated to be £72.8bn (2011 prices, PV). This analysis calculated that the benefit cost ratio (BCR) of HS2 is 2.2 for the full Y-network, including wider economic impacts. Therefore, over £2 worth of benefits are expected for every £1 spent which represents high value for money.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential application in the NHS of a treatment for arthritis proposed by researchers at Queen Mary University involving injection of microvesicles.
Jane Ellison
We are aware of a recent study undertaken by Queen Mary University of London which suggested that arthritic cartilage could be treated by microvesicles. This work is still at a very early stage and the efficacy of such a treatment approach would need to be demonstrated in clinical trials before it could be considered for routine use in the National Health Service.