Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-26.

To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the effectiveness of the Education Service in engaging the attention of children during their visits to Parliament.

Tom Brake

The Commission has not made a formal assessment of the effectiveness of the Education Service in engaging the attention of children during their visits to Parliament. However, it receives regular updates on the work and reach of the service, and has supported the substantial growth in this area in recent years.

The Education Service uses a number of techniques to engage students’ attention during visits including story-telling, question and answer, images, audio-visual clips, debating, quizzes and roleplay.

Visits also make use of interactive and immersive technology as a means to enhance learning. The Education Centre’s Discovery space uses 360° projection and sound technology to immerse students in virtual chambers, historical events and The Story of Parliament, whilst three of the Centre’s learning spaces are equipped with augmented reality experiences, which see Winston Churchill, the Yeoman Usher, Charles I and Queen Victoria ‘come to life’ in virtual environments.

Voting pods and tablets are used regularly in sessions, and the centre also contains a 3D printer, for printing objects students cannot normally handle or get close to; this is proving particularly effective for tactile learning and Special Educational Needs (SEN) groups. Tablets are also used on the line of route as part of the ‘Adventurer’s Tour’ programme, where KS2 students are tasked with a mission to save democracy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the NHS plans to make minoxidil available to women who have lost their hair.

George Freeman

Minoxidil (Regaine) for the treatment of alopecia is available to purchase ‘over the counter’, without prescription.

Regaine cannot be prescribed in primary care as it is listed in Schedule 1 to the National Health Service (General Medical Service Contracts) (Prescription of Drugs etc.) Regulations 2004 (the ‘blacklist’).

However other minoxidil products are available for clinicians to prescribe if they consider them to be clinically appropriate for an individual patient.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure electric car charging points are accessible across the UK.

Andrew Jones

Plug-in vehicles are generally charged at home and overnight, and so the Government provides grants of up to £500 for the installation of domestic chargepoints. More than 60,000 have been installed to date. The UK also has over 11,000 publicly accessible chargepoints; in streets, car parks and motorway service areas. This includes almost 900 rapid chargepoints that can charge a car in 20-30 minutes – the largest network in Europe.

The Department’s Roads Investment Strategy includes funding of £15m to improve the network of chargepoints on the strategic road network, and the Go Ultra Low city scheme is expected to deliver around 750 more publicly accessible chargepoints in UK towns and cities by 2020. We will announce further targeted support for plug-in vehicle chargepoints in due course.

Government-funded chargepoints must meet a minimum common standard for chargepoint outlets, and include ‘pay as you go’ functionality.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the use of antibiotics.

Jane Ellison

The UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy is an ambitious programme to slow the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance, which was published in 2013. The Strategy aims to prevent infection, protect the antibiotics that we have and promote the development of new drugs and alternative treatments. Each of these initiatives will contribute to reductions in the inappropriate use of antibiotics.

Implementation of our Strategy has met with success in primary care. Between April and December 2015, two million fewer prescriptions were dispensed compared to the same period in 2014, a reduction of 7.9%.

Globally, the United Kingdom has been at the forefront of successful negotiations of the antimicrobial resistance resolution at World Health Organization last year, with equivalent resolutions relating to food and agriculture and animal health. A key part of this work is aimed at reducing the risk of infections and improving antimicrobial stewardship.

We are also aiming to raise the profile of antimicrobial resistance yet higher through a successful high level meeting on antimicrobial resistance at the UN General Assembly in September this year.

Furthermore, we will use the recently published recommendations from Lord O’Neill’s Review on antimicrobial resistance to address the global challenge of unblocking the antibiotic pipeline and reducing unnecessary antibiotic usage in both the human and animal health sectors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the UN Secretary-General’s report on Children and Armed Conflict, published in April 2016, what steps he is taking to ensure that Saudi Arabia and other Coalition states cooperate with the UN to develop and implement an Action Plan to end and prevent such violations.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We note the announcement by the UN Secretary General on 6 June that removed the listing of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition from the report’s annex, pending the conclusion of a joint review by the UN and the Saudi-led Coalition on the cases and numbers cited in the text. We welcome co-operation between the UN and Saudi Arabia to look in to this matter.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make representations to Ryanair on the cost of amending boarding passes and other travel documents.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) continue to emphasise to the airlines the importance of compliance with ticket transparency obligations, ensuring that terms and conditions (including any administration fees and charges) are clear to passengers when they choose between airlines.

To enhance consumer protection in this area, the CAA will start work on unfair contract terms with the airlines this summer, in accordance with the CAA’s Strategic Plan 2016-2021. The work will include a review of the airlines’ terms and conditions (Conditions of Carriage) with the aim of ensuring the rights and obligations of the consumers and businesses are fair and balanced and consumers are not being penalised by unfair contract terms. The administration fees the industry currently charges are part of the terms and conditions and as such, will form a part of this work. The Government supports this work and will follow the progress with interest.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the development of the multi-operator self-exclusion scheme since 17 February 2016.

David Evennett

All individual gambling operators are required by their licence conditions to put in place procedures for self-exclusion.

In May 2015, the Gambling Commission introduced a new licence condition which also requires online gambling operators, other than certain society lottery operators, to participate in a national online self-exclusion scheme once it is developed and available.

The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) is currently developing the online multi-operator self-exclusion scheme on behalf of the online sector.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to ensure that families of children with life-shortening conditions receive financial support in order to care for their children.

Justin Tomlinson

The benefits available to the parents of children with life shortening conditions will depend on the particular circumstances of their household. Extra support is available to those parents who have had to give up full-time work to care for a child with a health condition or disability through benefits such as Carer’s Allowance, Income Support and Universal Credit. Disability Living Allowance may also be payable for children with a health condition or disability as a contribution towards the extra costs they may incur.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a programme to introduce more oysters in the waters around the UK.

George Eustice

Fisheries management is a devolved issue in the UK. The Government currently has no plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of a programme to introduce more oysters to the waters around England.

Oyster restoration schemes currently underway in the UK include the Chichester Harbour Oyster Partnership Initiative, the Essex Native Oyster Regeneration Initiative, and an initiative in the Solent led by the Blue Marine Foundation.

In 2005, Defra and Seafish commissioned Cefas to produce a feasibility study of native oyster (Ostrea edulis) stock regeneration in the UK. The full report is available on the Seafish website.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many compensation claims have been made against NHS hospitals related to treatment received by patients.

David Mowat

The Department does not hold the information to answer this question. This data has been provided by the National Health Service Litigation Authority.

In 2014/15 (the most recent year for which information has been published) 11,497 new clinical negligence claims were received by the NHS Litigation Authority which indemnifies all English National Health Service trusts, clinical commissioning groups and some independent sector providers. This number therefore includes claims related to organisations other than NHS hospitals. Claims can arise some years after an incident so this number represents the number of claims notified to Members in 2014/15 regardless of when the incident occurred. Not all these claims will result in financial compensation being awarded to the claimant.

This information is available on the NHS Litigation Authority’s website in Fact sheets:

www.nhsla.com/CurrentActivity/Pages/Home.aspx