Tag: John Mann

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much UK aid is being provided in each region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Nick Hurd

The DRC is the largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa. Many of the provinces are bigger than other DFID focus countries and there is a huge difference between the mineral-rich plains of Katanga in the south and the tropical rainforests of Equateur in the north, between the conflict-affected east and the megacity of Kinshasa in the west.

Our current approach to working in provinces was shaped in 2012. At that time we decided to focus on six strategic partnership provinces – North Kivu, South Kivu, Kasai Occidental, Katanga, Equateur and Kinshasa. Of these, our greatest area of focus has been the conflict-affected east of the country, which receives one third of our budget and hosts our only sub-national office in Goma. DFID programme design also takes into account need, geographic and logistical constraints, conflict, political issues, and presence of other donors. Whilst we increasingly focussed on the six provinces, we deliberately preserved some flexibility. Some activities, for example addressing humanitarian crises, do not observe provincial borders.

The regional picture in the DRC became more complex in September 2015 as the country’s 11 provinces were divided into 26, in a process called decoupage. In response to this radical change in the country’s geography, DFID DRC is reappraising its provincial focus and calculating its contribution in each province. The new approach will be set out in DFID DRC’s refreshed country business plan in May 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when a Minister in his Department (a) last visited, (b) met the Governor of and (c) met the Independent Monitoring Board of HM Prison Ranby.

Andrew Selous

Available records show that no current Ministers for the Ministry of Justice have visited HMP Ranby, nor met the Governor or met with their Independent Monitoring Board.

The East Midlands Deputy Director with responsibility for HMP Ranby regularly visits the prison and meets with the Governor. Andrew Selous receives annual reports from the chair of the IMB at Ranby.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will now consider acknowledging mass atrocity prevention or the prevention of identity-based mass violence to be a matter of national interest and a national priority.

James Duddridge

The UK continues to be strongly committed to early and effective international action to prevent mass atrocities. The National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 underlined the importance the Government attaches to upholding international humanitarian law and to the prevention of mass atrocities through effective implementation of the UN agreed principle of the Responsibility to Protect.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Eritrea on the increase in political asylum seekers from that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK participates in the EU/Africa Khartoum Process; the main regional mechanism for tackling human trafficking and people smuggling in the Horn of Africa most notably from Eritrea.

We are using our increased engagement with Eritrea to push for the tangible improvements in Eritrea’s human rights record, including: amending its national service system; fully implementing its own constitution; and cooperating with international human rights bodies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people were diagnosed with melanoma in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department has allocated to meeting the UN targets on family planning; and in which countries such funding has been allocated.

Mr Nick Hurd

In 2014, the most recent year for which figures are available, UK spending on Family Planning was £203 million, exceeding our 2012 London Summit commitment to double our yearly spend in this area. We are currently developing our plans for the new spending review period, but in the past the majority of our country offices have had family planning programmes.

Multilateral, regional and civil society funding reaches many more countries. As well as a large commitment to the UNFPA Supplies programme (£356m until 2020), DFID also supports the FP2020 Secretariat, work on shaping reproductive health markets through the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), and the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of staff numbers and skills at HM Prison Ranby.

Andrew Selous

HMP Ranby is currently in the process of implementing its benchmark and expects to have fully achieved this in 2016.

Nationally, we have recruited 2,340 new prison officers over the last year and this recruitment drive means we have 540 more full-time prison officers in our prisons than there were twelve months ago.

All Prison Officers complete the national training course (POELT) before they are able to undertake full duties, all staff at Ranby have the same access and opportunity to avail themselves of relevant training and development as any staff member working within NOMS.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-03-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was recharged to the (a) Russian, (b) Chinese, (c) Nigerian, (d) American, (e) Indian, (f) Australian, (g) Pakistan, (h) Brazilian, (i) New Zealand and (j) Canadian government for health treatment by the NHS in 2015.

Alistair Burt

Anyone who is not ordinarily resident in England is deemed an overseas visitor and is subject to the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015. These regulations place a legal duty on National Health Service hospitals to establish whether an overseas visitor is chargeable or is exempt from charge under one of a number of exemption categories.

NHS trusts will have their own local data on the status of non-United Kingdom nationals receiving NHS care. This enables them to charge for that care where applicable. However, trusts are only obliged to report totals for amounts charged and recovered. They are not required to include information about the patient’s residency, nationality or migration status. Trusts report amounts charged and recovered as part of their own local accounts process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the reasons for unaccompanied children from Albania seeking to purchase tickets to fly to the UK in order to claim asylum.

Mr Robert Goodwill

Albanians require a visa to travel to the UK and are not allowed to board the plane without one. We do not issue visas for the purpose of claiming asylum in the UK. Unaccompanied children who nonetheless manage to reach the UK, including those from Albania, claim asylum for a variety of reasons. Each case is considered on its individual merits in accordance with our international obligations and protection is granted where it is needed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that medical and fuel supplies for Nepal are not blocked by the Indian government.

Mr Hugo Swire

I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 26 November 2015 (PQ 17369) and 16 November (PQ 15614).