Tag: Jim Shannon

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential link between social media and self-harm among young people.

Alistair Burt

We recognise the potential influence of online platforms, including social media, on both promoting self-harm and supporting people who have or may be at risk of self-harm.

There is a link between bullying including cyberbullying and self-harm and the Department for Education produced guidance in October 2014, advising schools about preventing bullying. This guidance refers to new powers under the Education Act 2011 for teachers to search pupils, to confiscate IT equipment including mobile phones and to destroy offensive or inappropriate images.

The Government continues to provide financial support for the Multi-Centre Study of Self-Harm in England, which monitors trends in self-harm and recognises the potential influence of online platforms on self-harming in young people.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport expects social media companies to have robust processes in place to address inappropriate and abusive content on their sites. This includes having clear reporting channels, acting promptly to assess reports, and removing content which does not comply with their acceptable use policies or terms and conditions. Social media can also help signpost vulnerable users to helpful sources of information and support.

Recently, Ofcom led a social media working group on behalf of UK Council for Child Internet Safety to develop best practice guidance to encourage responsible practice from industry, and ensure children using their services are able to do so in a safe and protected way. This guidance was delivered on 22 December 2015 and can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/uk-council-for-child-internet-safety-ukccis

The Department of Health’s National Institute for Health Research has also funded ongoing research by the Samaritans and Bristol University into the influence on online platforms on suicidal behaviour.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure weight-loss surgery is available to reduce the occurrence of (a) diabetes, (b) heart problems and (c) high blood pressure.

Jane Ellison

The commissioning responsibility for severe and complex obesity services will transfer from NHS England to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on 1 April 2016.Transferring commissioning to CCGs will offer more coherent commissioning of the whole obesity pathway and patients will continue to be able to access surgical services for this condition.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with NATO on monitoring Russian manoeuvres along its borders with NATO member states.

Mr Julian Brazier

NATO constantly monitors and assesses the threats it faces across its borders. The Readiness Action Plan, comprising assurance and adaptation measures, is designed to strengthen NATO’s collective defence posture and crisis management capability and help deter Russia from hostile activity. The UK has recently renewed its call for intelligence to be shared amongst NATO members to deliver situational awareness. We are also encouraging NATO to enhance its capability for monitoring, assessing the effects of, and responding to threatening behaviour. NATO is focussing on being ‘adaptable by design’ so the Alliance is ready to face any new and emerging threats from wherever they come.

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 assessment his Department has made of the level of Russian funding for political groups in NATO member states who oppose NATO and nuclear weapons.

Mr David Lidington

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has made no such assessment. At the Wales Summit in 2014 all NATO Heads of State/Government reaffirmed their commitment to NATO as a nuclear alliance.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been released from custodial sentences as a result of wrongful convictions in each of the last 10 years.

Mike Penning

The Ministry of Justice does not hold the number of people released from custodial sentences as a result of wrongful convictions in England and Wales. Obtaining this information would incur disproportionate cost.

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 clinical bodies on potential links between the levels of dentistry and cancer.

Jane Ellison

There have been no formal discussions with clinical bodies on this matter.