The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-03-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will estimate the forecast level of creditor claims related to insolvency litigation in each of the next five financial years.
Andrew Selous
The Ministry of Justice does not hold this information.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-18.
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to encourage big businesses to promote gender equality and provide models for small and medium-sized enterprises to follow.
Caroline Dinenage
The Government is committed to full gender equality in the workplace, and we are introducing mandatory gender pay gap reporting for larger employers from April 2017.
We will support all employers to do this with a £500,000 package including: UK wide conference events, free online software and targeted support for male-dominated sectors. Employers of any size can join the voluntary “Think, Act, Report” initiative which has around 300 members leading the way on gender equality.
The Women’s Business Council has an SME representative to ensure good practice is promulgated throughout the wider business community, including a toolkit for businesses to support older women in the workplace.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with Tourism NI on increasing the level of tourism from the UK mainland to Northern Ireland.
David Evennett
Tourism Ireland, a body established under the Good Friday Agreement, has responsibility for marketing Northern Ireland as a visitor destination in all markets outside of the island of Ireland, including in Great Britain.
We want more tourists to visit Northern Ireland, and experience all that it has to offer, from the Giant’s Causeway to the film set for Game of Thrones. My officials have regular discussions with their counterparts in each Devolved Administration on tourism.
There are Memoranda of Understanding in place between VisitBritain, Tourism Ireland and the Tourism Northern Ireland, which set out their respective roles and responsibilities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what specialist support is provided by his Department to vulnerable adults without family support.
Alistair Burt
The Department does not provide any such support directly.
The Care Act 2014 places a duty on local authorities in England to meet the care and support needs of vulnerable people, carers and their families. Statutory guidance sets out the circumstances and services that a local authority, working with its local partner organisations, may arrange to meet people’s needs. Examples include information, advice and advocacy, care and support at home or in the community, counselling and other types of social work, goods and facilities, domiciliary care and accommodation in a care home or in suitable premises of some other type.
Where a person has substantial difficulty in being fully involved in their care planning or lacks capacity to agree and consent to the care plan and has no family or friends who are able to support their involvement, an independent advocate must be appointed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-19.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to review staffing and training levels for particular services in cases where payments for agency staff are capped.
Alistair Burt
The agency cap, introduced in November 2015 covers all staff in trusts and foundation trusts.
It is the responsibility of local employers, with their knowledge of service needs, to determine the numbers and skill mix needed to deliver quality care, patient safety and efficiency. They will do this for each service, taking into account local factors such as acuity and case mix.
It is Health Education England’s responsibility to ensure that there is sufficient future supply of staff, including those needed in specialist fields, to meet the workforce requirements of the English health system.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect and help encourage curlew and lapwing habitats.
Rory Stewart
Both lapwings and curlews are priorities for conservation action. For example, the Government’s agri-environment schemes have been designed to encourage habitat management to promote their conservation in targeted areas, specifically to provide suitable nesting and foraging conditions.
Many of the most important sites for nesting lapwings are managed as nature reserves by Government and non-government organisations. In such cases highly specialised management can lead to high numbers breeding in relatively small areas. Success has also been achieved through agricultural schemes such as the Peppering Project on the Arundel estate.
Curlews are more widespread and their specific requirements for breeding are less well-understood. Natural England, together with the RSPB, is conducting research to better tailor upland land management to the specific needs of curlews and to support lapwing breeding.
As part of Defra’s programme of monitoring agri-environment schemes, Natural England has commissioned a survey of breeding waders (including lapwings and curlews) in upland areas in England to measure the effectiveness of these schemes.
As with all wild birds, lapwings and curlews are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
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, if the Government will suspend arms export licences and reject new applications for arms exports while there is a risk that they could be used in contravention of international humanitarian and human rights laws.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
All UK export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all available relevant information at the time of the application. A licence will not be issued if doing so would be inconsistent with any provision of the mandatory Criteria, including the UK’s international obligations and its commitments to enforce UN, OSCE and EU arms embargoes, and where it is assessed there is a clear risk that the items might be used for internal repression or in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law. As part of its assessment under Criterion 2, the Government is required to take account of the risk the items might be used to commit gender-based violence or serious violence against women or children.
We do not agree that it is right to prohibit all sales of arms to all the countries named in the UN’s annual reports on Children and Armed Conflict, especially as the violations may be carried out by non-state actors. We take our arms export responsibilities very seriously, and operate a robust arms export control regime with every country.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Royal College of Nursing on the effect of boredom on obesity.
Jane Ellison
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has not had any such discussions.
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 discussions he has had with the Gambling Commission and the Remote Gambling Association in the last 12 months on the progress of the online multi-operator self-exclusion scheme.
David Evennett
Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis and can be accessed via the gov.uk website.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people of each gender over the age of 50 have been treated for (a) drug and (b) alcohol addiction in each of the last five years.
Jane Ellison
The number of people of each gender over the age of 50 who have been in drug or alcohol treatment for the last five years can be accessed in the following link:
https://www.ndtms.net/Publications/AnnualReports.aspx
Source: National Drug Treatment Monitoring System
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