Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to promote private sector investment in Kurdistan.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

In recognition of the potential investment opportunities in Iraq as a whole, the Department for International Trade has recently finalised an ambitious five-year Business Plan. That plan seeks to underpin the promotion of British trade across Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), to deliver maximum export opportunities for UK companies and ensure that we take advantage of the opportunities that the KRI market offers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Army Reserves who did not pass the annual mandatory training test in 2015 were deployed on operation.

Harriett Baldwin

There are 10 Military Annual Training Tests (MATTs) ranging from map reading and navigation through to Chemical, Biological, Radiation, Nuclear (CBRN) training. In 2015, 32 Army Reservists who had either not completed or failed an aspect of their MATTs were mobilised for deployment. The decision to deploy is made by the Chain of Command only on the basis that the gap in MATTs would not prevent them from safely and responsibly fulfilling their deployed role. In addition to MATTs, all deployed personnel receive an intensive programme of training specific to the operation.

In addition, 2 Medical brigade mobilised and deployed 122 medical Reserve personnel to Sierra Leone in a non-combat role in 2015, as part of the fight against Ebola. As part of its preparation the unit conducted its own MATTs for which pass and fail records are not held centrally and cannot readily be provided.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of (a) obese and (b) overweight children under the age of 11; and if he will take steps to cooperate with (a) his counterparts in the devolved administrations, (b) GPs, (c) teachers and (d) parents to help reduce that number.

Nicola Blackwood

We launched Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action on 18 August. Our plan focuses on actions that are likely to have the biggest impact on reducing childhood obesity and maintaining a healthy weight. It presents a bold package of policy proposals, informed by the available evidence. We will work with the devolved administrations, general practitioners and other healthcare professionals, teachers and parents to improve the health and wellbeing of children across the United Kingdom.

We are confident that the measures announced will make a real difference and estimate that they could reduce childhood obesity rates by around a fifth (330,000) over the next 10 years.

A copy of Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action is attached and is available at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/546588/Childhood_obesity_2016__2__acc.pdf

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of slow medicine reimbursement decisions on the level of commercial investment in UK clinical research by companies specialising in rare and ultra-rare conditions.

Nicola Blackwood

Independent evidence suggests that the most important attraction for companies to invest in research in the United Kingdom is the availability of world-class scientific expertise, which is the focus of the Government’s effort to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of global Research and Development. It also suggests that there is no obvious reason why National Health Service reimbursement policy for pharmaceuticals, or the time taken to make decisions on reimbursement, should significantly affect decisions to invest in Research and Development in the UK.

The independently chaired Accelerated Access Review makes recommendations to the Government on reforms to accelerate access for NHS patients to innovative medicines, medical technologies, diagnostics and digital products.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his US and other NATO counterparts on the nuclear tests being conducted by North Korea; and what steps he is taking to help prevent North Korea’s development of a nuclear arsenal.

Alok Sharma

Following the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducting its fifth nuclear test on 9 September, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), made clear that the UK strongly condemned the test, which is a flagrant violation of binding UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions. The UK has worked closely with international partners for many years to respond to the nuclear weapons and missile programmes of the DPRK.

The UNSC agreed wide-ranging sanctions following the fourth nuclear test in January, which contained some of the strongest measures the UNSC has ever adopted. As I said on 23 September at the UN Security Council meeting, "there is now a need to work immediately on further significant measures." The UK is working with international partners on further significant measures the UNSC can take in response to the fifth test.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Egypt.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office published its annual Human Rights and Democracy Report on 12 March 2015, which provides an assessment of the situation in Egypt, and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/country-case-study-egypt

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in each age group were diagnosed with hepatitis C in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England receives laboratory reports of hepatitis C cases from England and Wales and data is presented by age group in the table below.

Laboratory reports of hepatitis C by age group, England and Wales, 2010 to 2014

Year	2010 (i)	2011 (ii)	2012 (iii)	2013 (iv)	2014 (v)
Age group (years)
	26	41	21	27	17
1-4	10	21	23	15	13
5-9	6	9	7	7	10
10-14	5	13	12	13	20
15-24	463	581	567	559	550
25-34	2,166	2,640	2,957	3,037	2,849
35-44	2,510	3,123	3,340	3,407	3,310
45-54	1,791	2,329	2,627	2,721	2,918
55-64	778	1,123	1,203	1,293	1,559
>=65	316	423	503	514	657
NK	76	79	93	99	94
Total	8,147	10,382	11,353	11,692	11,997

Across the UK, more individuals are being tested for hepatitis C and over the last 5 years particular improvements have been seen in primary care where surveillance indicates that testing has risen by 21% in England (vi).

Citations

(i) Health Protection Report Vol 5. No. 29 22 July 2011

(ii) Health Protection Report Vol 6. No. 30 27 July 2012

(iii) Health Protection Report Vol.7 No. 30 26 July 2013

(iv) Health Protection Report Vol 98 No. 29 25 July 2014

(v) Health Protection Report Vol 9 No. 26 24 July 2015

(vi) Hepatitis C in the UK; 2015 report. Public Health England

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an estimate of the effect on the rural economy of the reduction in grouse shooting caused by poor weather in 2015.

Rory Stewart

The Government has no plans to make an estimate of the effect the weather in 2015 has had on the grouse shooting industry and the rural economy.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of child abuse that have been reported to police (a) did and (b) did not lead to a prosecution in the last five years.

Mike Penning

The Home Office collects recorded crime information from the police, but it is not possible to tell the age of victim for all the offences that could constitute child abuse for all police forces. Therefore, the requested data cannot be provided.

For some offence categories, the offence states the age of the victim or it is clear that the victim is a child (for example, rape of a female child under 16; cruelty to children/young persons). Figures for these offences for the last five year are given in the Table.

The Home Office does not hold information on prosecutions; these figures are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the Royal College of Nursing on links between the consumption of carbonated drinks and the incidence of heart failure.

Jane Ellison

There have been no recent discussions with the Royal College of Nursing on the links between the consumption of carbonated drinks and the incidence of heart failure.