Tag: Jim Shannon

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 his counterpart in China on the recent disappearance of five people who work for a Hong Kong publishing company and bookseller.

Mr Hugo Swire

Her Majesty’s Government remains deeply concerned about British citizen Mr Lee Po who went missing from Hong Kong in December and his four colleagues associated with the Causeway Bay Books bookstore. I raised the issue with the Chinese Ambassador to the UK on 22 January and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the case with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on 5 January. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials are in regular contact with the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to make clear our serious concerns about this matter. As the Foreign Secretary told the House on 12 January, if allegations of Chinese security agents taking a British Citizen out of Hong Kong are correct, then this would be a serious breach of the Joint Declaration (Official Record 12 Jan 2016 : Column 693).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what programmes her Department has in place to facilitate access to wells and water in developing countries.

Mr Nick Hurd

In 2012 the UK Government set a target of reaching 60 million people in the developing world with one or more water, sanitation or hygiene (WASH) interventions by the end of 2015. The Department for International Development (DFID) delivered a range of WASH programmes in 19 countries through its network of country offices. In addition DFID ran 2 regional programmes and 4 centrally managed programmes from DFID HQ.

The target was achieved 9 months early in April 2015.

More detailed information on individual WASH programmes that contributed to meeting this target is available through the development tracker function https://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/sector/3 on the DFID website.

We are currently formulating our new portfolio to deliver on the UK government’s commitment to help a further 60 million people get access to clean water and sanitation by 2020.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on the possible connection between potato consumption and diabetes in pregnancy.

Jane Ellison

No such discussions have been held.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Egypt on the imprisonment of Mohammed Hegazy in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are concerned about the case of Bishoy Armia Boulous, formerly Mohammed Hegazy, who was arrested in December 2013 and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment in June 2014 for ‘disturbing the peace by broadcasting false information’ after filming clashes between Muslims and Christians in Upper Egypt. We are aware of his continued imprisonment and reports that his treatment whilst in prison has been in breach of his human rights. We have raised his case with the Egyptian Embassy in London and will continue to raise concerns about such cases with the Egyptian authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when electrical impulse equipment for spinal injuries will be available on the NHS.

Jane Ellison

The Department is aware of a number of recent newspaper articles about research into the use electrical impulse devices for the treatment of spinal injuries. This research is at a very early stage and the technology has yet to demonstrate its efficacy and safety in clinical trials in humans.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he has had discussions with pharmaceutical companies based outside the UK on locating functions in the UK.

Anna Soubry

The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has overall responsibility for ensuring that the UK is an attractive place for overseas companies to set up or expand their business. In this context, the Secretary of State has had discussions with companies from a range of sectors, including in the life sciences sector.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will take steps to ensure that farming business is market-led rather than production-led.

George Eustice

The UK has some of the best farmers in the world, producing food to the highest standards of quality, safety, traceability and animal welfare. To make the most of this talent and quality, we need to work with farmers to raise our productivity and close the gap with some of our leading competitors. This means that we shall be supporting more UK businesses to sell their top quality produce around the world; trebling the number of apprenticeships in the food and drink industry to bring new skills and innovation; and reforming tax averaging and investment allowances to help farmers plan capital spending for the long term.

Our new 25-year food and farming plan has been developed jointly with food and farming businesses. It will set a joint vision for increasing productivity, exports, resilience and consumer confidence, thereby boosting demand for British food and the contribution of farming to our economy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to encourage teenage girls to be involved in sport and other physical activity.

David Evennett

There are a number of excellent initiatives to encourage teenage girls to get active such as Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign, a nationwide campaign to get women and girls moving, regardless of shape, size and ability. It is already changing behaviours with 49% of women aged 14 to 40 who have seen the campaign reporting they had taken action as a result.

Sport England has also invested over £2million in Bury for a pilot called ‘I Will if You Will’. The programme, on which they worked closely with the local council, combined marketing techniques with sports sessions and exercise classes designed to overcome the hurdles that stop women taking part. Us Girls, funded by Sport England, also exists to increase and sustain young women’s participation in sport and physical activity in some of the nation’s most disadvantaged communities.

Girls Active, funded by Sport England, in partnership with This Girl Can and Women in Sport is a scheme to encourage teenage girls to take part in PE and sport and the School Games offer children of all abilities the chance to take part in competitive sport. In 2014/15, 177,630 children took part at level 3 of the School Games (the county festivals) and 51% of these participants were girls.

In December, DCMS published ‘Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation‘, a new cross-departmental strategy for sport and physical activity. The strategy sets out government’s vision for a successful and active sporting nation and emphasises the importance of helping people in under-represented groups, including women and girls, to get active.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the use of (a) credit unions and (b) the help to buy scheme by armed forces personnel.

Mark Lancaster

In October 2015, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) launched a facility to make Credit Union services available to UK Armed Forces personnel via payroll deductions. The launch was communicated through the MOD intranet and gov.uk website, and also cascaded to the single Service welfare and internal communications leads.

Three chosen Credit Unions are now working together collectively under the banner ‘Joining Forces’ to provide Service personnel with access to dependable savings facilities and safe affordable loans. Further details are available from their website: http://joiningforcescu.co.uk/

Joining Forces have an employee who works solely on behalf of the collective to deliver presentations and information packages to personnel on military bases. They are also examining various strategies to promote their services through Armed Forces publications and engagement with the Families Federations.

Work is currently under way to enable veterans who are in receipt of an Armed Forces pension to access the services provided by Joining Forces. It is expected that this facility will go live later this year.

Take-up of the £200 million Forces Help to Buy (FHTB) scheme has been very encouraging. The scheme has already given £93.7 million to help over 6,100 Service personnel buy or extend their homes. While there is no advertising budget for FHTB, the success stories of the scheme continue to be communicated through routine internal channels, as well as MOD social media where appropriate. These examples are cascaded via the individual Service networks to raise awareness of the scheme and to inform Service personnel of the support available to them.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on the connection between memory loss and viral illness.

Jane Ellison

No such discussions have taken place.