Tag: Jim Shannon

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there is sufficient lift capacity to airlift the two new strike brigades to theatres of operation.

Penny Mordaunt

As part of the SDSR and our plans for Joint Force 2025 we are investing more than £178 billion in buying and maintaining equipment over the next decade. This includes the modernisation and investment in our air transport fleet which will include the C17, A400M, Voyager and C130J platforms. We are still developing our plans for how the Army’s new strike brigades will be deployed, but part of the extra capability we expect them to offer is the ability to deploy at pace by air, sea or to self-deploy over land.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to strengthen regulation of marketing of alcoholic drinks; and what the Government’s policy is on introducing minimum unit pricing for alcohol.

Jane Ellison

UK controls (regulatory and self-regulatory) control both the placement and content of alcohol advertising to prevent advertisers targeting young people.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) police and promote the rules, which were strengthened in October 2005 and part of a general review of all the ASA codes in late 2009.

The Government is committed to working with industry to address concerns over any irresponsible promotions, advertising and marketing relating to alcohol, particularly to ensure that children and young people are suitably protected.

Material in the Committee of Advertising Practice and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice Codes relating to the advertising and marketing of alcohol products is exceptionally robust, recognising the social imperative of ensuring that alcohol advertising is responsible and in particular that children and young people are suitably protected.

If new evidence emerges that clearly highlights major problems with the existing Codes, then the Advertising Standards Authority has a duty to revisit the Codes and take appropriate action.

The Government has no plans to introduce Minimum Unit Pricing although the evidence for all policy approaches is kept under review.

We have noted the recent opinion of the EU Advocate General. We await a final ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union and we will continue to monitor developments.

In the meantime we are pursuing targeted action to reduce alcohol-related harms.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of progress in building security in Nigeria and the neighbouring countries which are often entered by Boco Haram; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding by the UK and EU for this purpose.

James Duddridge

We welcome the recent successes achieved by the Nigerian armed forces against Boko Haram and the establishment of the Multinational Joint Taskforce to tackle the group.

The UK is providing a substantial and increasing package of UK military, intelligence, development and humanitarian support to help Nigeria and the region tackle Boko Haram. This includes training and advice to Nigerian military units deployed against Boko Haram and £5 million to support the Multinational Joint Taskforce. However a security approach alone will not solve the conflict. We are therefore providing £8.2 million in humanitarian support and the Department for International Development are also providing £9 million through its Sahel humanitarian programme to support Nigerian refugees and other vulnerable people in Cameroon and Niger. In addition 60% of the Department for International Development’s £222 million 2015/16 development budget for Nigeria is spent in Northern Nigeria.

The UK works closely with the European Union on their programmes in the region, these include €20.5 million aid for Nigeria programmes to Counter Violent Extremism and on civil-military relations in Nigeria.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people of each gender and age group were diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt

2012-13 is the first year for which information is available. The number of people in England who were referred to Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services with obsessive compulsive disorder as the recorded problem from 2012-13 to 2014-15 is given in the attached table Improving Access to Psychological Therapies: Number of referrals where the recorded problem was Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, by gender and age group 2012-2013 to 2014-2015.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with organisations representing people with TB on support for people with that disease who are unable to work as a result.

Jane Ellison

Departmental officials meet regularly with colleagues from TB Alert, a third sector key partner in the publication of Public Health England’s National Strategy for Tuberculosis (TB), launched in January 2015. TB Alert provides support to those affected by TB including the homeless and unemployed. Officials also liaise with the Find and Treat outreach service that provides TB screening services through a mobile x-ray unit to vulnerable groups.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will issue clear guidance that buzzard control licences should be granted to gamekeepers or organisations whenever the criteria for applications for such licences are met.

Rory Stewart

Licences to control buzzards are issued by Natural England on the Secretary of State’s behalf in accordance with the Government’s policy on wildlife management. Following the recent McMorn judgment in the High Court, which quashed a licencing decision taken in 2014 relating to buzzards, Natural England is revising the guidance on dealing with these types of application and once completed, the guidance will be publicly available.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce the occurrence of ash dieback disease.

Rory Stewart

Our long-term national strategy to manage Ash Dieback is based on science, international best practice and the advice of the UK Chief Plant Health Officer.

We are protecting non-infected areas and have invested over £21 million in tree health research. Restrictions on the movement of ash, both inland and from other countries, are currently in place.

The Government-funded screening trial of 155,000 ash saplings is unprecedented in its scope and the UK is leading the way on the work to identify resistant strains. Collectively, our research is aimed at identifying the genetic basis for natural tolerance and screening our native ash trees for genetic markers. Work is also underway to further our understanding of the pathogen, how it spreads and local management approaches to protect individual, high value trees.

Our surveillance programme involving Government, industry, conservation groups and the public enables us to monitor the disease and to target resources effectively.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to promote local high street retail businesses.

Mr Marcus Jones

The Government recognises that retail businesses are a vital part of high streets and is committed to supporting and promoting them. We introduced £1.4 billion of support for business rate bills in 2015 – 16 in England. The Autumn Statement 2015 also announced continuation of the doubling of Small Business Rate Relief in 2016 – 17, providing help for 600,000 rate payers, with 400,000 paying nothing at all. We are also committed to reviewing the future structure of Business Rates, to report before Budget 2016.

We are also bringing forward sensible planning changes to allow business to respond flexibly to changing market conditions and are taking action to tackle over-zealous parking practices. We have reviewed the role and power of Business Improvement Districts, and are taking forward changes that will mean that they can become more involved in local decisions that affect their area.

We have also run the Great British High Street Awards since 2014, which has championed the hard work of local businesses and communities around the country. With nearly 200,000 votes cast in the public voting element in the 2015 Awards, the competition proves how much local people cherish our high streets. We will continue to showcase best practice from the Awards.

The Future High Street Forum is a joint partnership between government and the retail, leisure and property industries. It is leading an ambitious programme of work, including looking at town centre restructuring and the digital high street, to support town centres to meet the changing needs of today’s consumer.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to facilitate a process of credit card transfers for people in debt.

Harriett Baldwin

The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, which includes the credit card sector. Consumer credit regulation transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014.

The FCA is currently undertaking a thorough review of the credit card market through its ‘credit card market study’. The market study is investigating three areas, including the extent of unaffordable credit card debt and how consumers can drive effective competition through shopping around and switching.

On the 3rd November 2015 the FCA published its interim report which found that the market was working reasonably well for most customers. However, the FCA expressed concern about the scale of potentially problematic debt in this sector, and the incentives for firms to manage this.

The interim report also included the FCA’s early thinking on potential remedies which include measures to give consumers more control over their credit limits, measures to encourage customers to pay off debt quicker when they can afford to, and proposals that firms do more to identify earlier those consumers who may be struggling to repay and take action to help them manage their repayments.

The FCA also set out potential measures to allow consumers to open access to their credit card usage to other market participants, as well as clarifying standards for price comparison websites, in order to facilitate shopping around and switching. The FCA is currently asking for feedback on the findings and potential remedies.

The Government is looking forward to the full report in the spring, and would encourage interested parties to give their views to the FCA to assist it in addressing the issues it has identified.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Egyptian government on Libya.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministers regularly discuss Libya with their Egyptian counterparts, as part of the united international effort to assist the formation of a government in Libya that can deliver stability, security, and prosperity for the Libyan people. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) continues ongoing discussions of Libya with his Egyptian counterpart, Minister for Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukhry. They previously discussed the subject in meetings in September and November.