Tag: Jim Shannon

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with NATO on improvements to the road network in European NATO member states to permit more effective movement of troops and logistic support.

Mr Julian Brazier

The UK was one of the driving forces behind NATO’s Readiness Action Plan (RAP), agreed at the Wales Summit, which includes tripling the strength of the NATO Response Force (NRF); the creation of a Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) that is able to deploy at very short notice; and enhancing NATO’s Standing Naval Forces.

The UK is fully involved with NATO work to improve the movement of troops and logistic support to the enhanced NRF and VJTF although improvements to and development of road networks remain the responsibility of each member nation.

NATO Allies regularly discuss the progress of the RAP and the capabilities and deployability of our forces; we will do so again at the NATO Defence Ministerial meeting this month.

The UK will contribute to the VJTF in every year between now and 2021 including: a 1,000 strong battle group for the Spanish-led Land VJTF in 2016; we will act as the Land VJTF lead nation in 2017, with 3,000 UK personnel; and in 2020 we will provide a 1,000 battle group to the Polish-led VJTF

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people had gastrointestinal operations in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

The information is not available in the form requested.

For England, a count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary or secondary procedure of gastrointestinal operation from 2010-11 to 2014-15 is below.

Year	FAEs
2010-11	1,375,343
2011-12	1,472,621
2012-13	1,567,615
2013-14	1,603,365
2014-15	1,699,845

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, Health and Social Care Information Centre

Note: An FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to preserve lapwing habitats.

Rory Stewart

The lapwing is listed under Section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 as a species of principal importance in England and is consequently a priority for conservation action. Large aggregations of lapwings, along with other breeding and wintering birds, occur on protected sites containing lowland wet grassland, including over 28,000 hectares of Sites of Special Scientific Interest where lapwings are specifically recognised and benefit from targeted management of their habitats.

Lapwings are a widespread species, and the majority occur outside protected sites in a range of habitats including grassland and open moorland. Under our agri-environment schemes, such as Environmental Stewardship, a range of funded management options has been developed to provide suitable nesting and foraging conditions for lapwings, within and outside protected sites across their diverse habitats, including an option for creating bare-ground nesting plots on arable land. There are currently approximately 7,800 hectares of such plots in place under Environmental Stewardship. The new Countryside Stewardship scheme, launched in July 2015, will continue this important work by providing a Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package, which contains options to improve habitats and provide food for farmland birds such as lapwings. Countryside Stewardship also, for the first time, includes options for capital items supporting the construction of anti-predator fencing, which are likely to increase the survival of lapwing chicks.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what safeguards she plans to put in place to ensure that the red-light district pilot scheme in Leeds does not encourage any increase in the levels of (a) pimping, (b) soliciting for sex, (c) kerb crawling or (d) brothel-keeping; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley

We are committed to tackling the harm and exploitation that can be associated with prostitution, and believe that people who want to leave prostitution should be given every opportunity to escape it. Prostitution is a complex issue, which can impact on individuals and communities in many different ways, and we are clear that local areas and police forces are in the best position to identify and respond to issues around prostitution in their area. Police forces will be assisted in doing so by the National Policing Lead’s refreshed Policing Sex Work Strategy, due to be published this month, which will stress the priority of the public protection duty that the police have in relation to the safety of those involved in prostitution.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage households to (a) reduce food waste and (b) increase awareness of food waste.

Rory Stewart

Working through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), we are increasing awareness of food waste and helping households waste less and save money through the Courtauld Commitment and the Love Food Hate Waste (LFHW) campaign. These have contributed to a 15% reduction in the amount of household food and drink waste between 2007 and 2012, from 8.3m tonnes to 7.0m tonnes.

WRAP is currently running the LFHW ‘10 cities’ campaign across the UK. The campaign includes activities in each city including cascade training, practical cookery classes and demonstrations, a kitchen skills programme, food champion networks and memorable experiential events.

WRAP is currently brokering a new agreement, Courtauld 2025, which is expected to be launched in March and will build on this progress.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal College for Nursing on the connection between cancer drugs and dementia.

Jane Ellison

There have been no such discussions.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with airline companies on ensuring that immigration rules are carried out correctly by airline staff.

Karen Bradley

Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Gov.uk website at: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/ministerial-data-home-office.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with NHS trusts in England on costs of the practice of sourcing nurses from Northern Ireland to cover weekend shifts.

Ben Gummer

No discussions have taken place between my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and National Health Service trusts on the costs of sourcing nurses from Northern Ireland to cover weekend shifts.

NHS organisations are best placed to decide how many staff they employ and how best to recruit those staff to meet services tailored to the needs of their patients and local communities, to deliver safe care.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to upgrade the (a) welfare services and (b) leisure facilities at the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus; and what the timetable is for each such upgrade.

Mark Lancaster

Within the military areas of the Sovereign Base Areas there are a variety of welfare and leisure facilities provided as part of the overall estate, ranging from swimming pools to bars and shopping facilities. The continued development of the Cyprus estate is being planned as part of Project Apollo, which will seek to ensure a sustainable future estate over the next 10-15 years. For those deployed on Operation SHADER in Cyprus, a deployed welfare package is available and includes Wi-Fi, social areas, gymnasium equipment and pre-paid telephone calls home. Leisure facilities are delivered as part of Soft Facilities Management contract with Sodexho, who in concert with the Ministry of Defence, provides many of the outlets for personnel to relax when off duty.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department is giving to the Lebanese government to create employment in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We continue to encourage the Lebanese Government to ensure better access to employment for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. We support the Government of Lebanon to implement commitments made at the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference in providing access to education and jobs for refugees and host communities. We will continue to advocate for a non-exclusive approach, reaching all vulnerable groups. In addition, we have provided £1.9 million to United Nations Relief and Works Agency this year to support over 1,000 Palestinian youth across Lebanon with vocational and English skills training, as well as apprenticeship and job placement services.