Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the UK’s coal resources are used in the most effective manner.

Andrea Leadsom

The UK’s coal mining sector continues to meet a significant proportion of UK demand – in 2014, this was around 20%. In recent years, a number of domestic mining companies have struggled to remain profitable as a result of changes in the global coal market, and the Government has provided substantial financial support to avert the insolvent and unmanaged closure of these mines.

The Government continues to engage regularly with the coal sector to discuss the role of coal as we transition to a low carbon economy.

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced recently that we will look to limit our use of coal from 2023, with an end date of 2025 and we will consult on this in the New Year. However, security of supply remains non-negotiable and no decisions will be taken which puts this at risk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that funding is made available to treat prostate cancer with olaparib.

George Freeman

Olaparib (Lynparza) is not licensed for use in the treatment of prostate cancer. It is currently undergoing Phase II clinical trials for this condition.

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 steps her Department is taking to control the number of polecats.

Rory Stewart

Wildlife management is a devolved matter, so I can only respond on behalf of England.

Defra’s general policy is that individuals should be free to manage wildlife within the law. In the first instance controlling polecats is the responsibility of the owner or occupier of the property where the problem occurs.

Polecats are protected by the Bern Convention, which means the UK is obliged to protect their populations from unsustainable management and methods of control which are indiscriminate or capable of causing their local disappearance or serious disturbance. We meet our obligations through the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Whilst polecats are not protected from killing or taking, those who wish to kill or take polecats may not use methods prohibited by those pieces of legislation (for example poisons, traps, snares or nets), unless they acquire a licence from Natural England permitting them to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the reasons in the discrepancy between the proportion of granted asylum claims which are made to people from Pakistan and the proportion of applicants under the detained fast-track procedure who are from that country.

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 Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what HM Revenue and Customs’ plans are for jobs in Northern Ireland in the next five years.

Mr David Gauke

HMRC has a long-established presence in Northern Ireland. HMRC intends to increase the number of people it employs in the Province, opening a new Regional Centre in Belfast, from 2017-18, accommodating between 1,300 and 1,600 posts across a range of disciplines.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps the Government is taking to promote Northern Ireland as a destination for meetings, events and conferences.

Mr Ben Wallace

Measures to provide a further boost to tourism were included in the economic pact, Building a Prosperous and United Community, which was agreed between the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. This includes a UK-Ireland visa system, which means that people from China and India can visit both countries with a single visa, thus encouraging tourism, business links and inward investment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make a comparative assessment of the potential economic benefit of High Speed 2 plans and the proposals by Transport for the North.

Mr Robert Goodwill

HS2 will dramatically improve connectivity from north to south. Northern Powerhouse Rail will do the same from east to west. These two ambitious programmes, developed side-by-side, will help to rebalance the economy by transforming rail travel to, from, and within the North.

The Department and Transport for the 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 steps his Department is taking to ensure that all people in vulnerable categories receive the flu vaccination.

Jane Ellison

This flu season eligible groups, such as those with a long term health condition, are encouraged to take up the flu vaccine through a single winter health campaign, ‘Stay Well this Winter’[1]. The campaign launched in October and advises the public on how to avoid common winter illnesses.

The National Health Service and local authority partners have been encouraged to implement the campaign at local level and make use of available campaign resources, including patient letters, information leaflets and posters. Voluntary organisations, health charities and schools have received tailored resources to assist them in communicating the risks of flu and benefits of vaccination to their members and parents/pupils. General practitioners are urged to invite all eligible patients for vaccination. For the first time this flu season, many community pharmacies are also offering free NHS flu vaccinations to eligible adults, extending patient choice and opportunities for patients to take-up the vaccine.

[1] News release: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/winter-campaign-starts-with-largest-flu-vaccination-programme

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to make the Attiva device for the treatment of people with diabetes available on the NHS.

George Freeman

Medical devices are required to be CE marked under the European Union medical devices Directives and may not be placed on the market until this process is complete.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support global efforts against schistosomiasis.

Mr Nick Hurd

DFID is a leading donor in the fight against schistosomiasis which is not only an incredibly debilitating disease, but holds back 200 million people globally from achieving their potential and contributing to the success of their country, not least economically. For this reason we are providing £50 million to deliver over 200 million treatments for schistosomiasis in ten Sub-Saharan African countries (2010-2018). These treatments are delivered by the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative which is based at Imperial College, London. To date nearly 60 million treatments have been distributed.

The programme is also making a significant contribution to developing new knowledge on how to best reach our goal of elimination of schistosomiasis as a public health problem through operational research and working with partners globally.