Asked by: Leo Docherty (Conservative - Aldershot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to encourage the establishment of Combined Cadet Force units in state schools; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government wants as many pupils as possible to benefit from the life-changing activities offered by becoming a Cadet. The Cadet Expansion Programme was launched in June 2012 with the aim to deliver 100 new Combined Cadet Force units in state-funded schools by September 2015. This initial target was delivered six months early, in March 2015. The Government has committed to extend the number of cadet units in UK schools to 500 by March 2020 and the Department is on track to meet this target, with 453 school cadet units established so far.
Asked by: Leo Docherty (Conservative - Aldershot)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to reduce knife crime in Hampshire.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
On 9 April 2018, the Government published the Serious Violence Strategy that set out action being taken to address serious violence and in particular the recent increases in knife crime, gun crime and homicide. This also includes the national knife crime media campaign, #knifefree, to raise awareness of the consequences of knife crime among young people and to encourage them to take up positive activities.
We will continue to encourage police forces in England and Wales to undertake a series of coordinated national weeks of action to tackle knife crime under Operation Sceptre. In February this year, Hampshire Police participated in Operation Sceptre, which includes targeted stop and searches, weapon sweeps, test purchases of knives from identified retailers, the use of surrender bins and educational activities. We also announced up to £1million for a new round of the anti-knife crime Community Fund which will invite bids for funding later this Spring from community groups to tackle knife crime in their area.
Asked by: Leo Docherty (Conservative - Aldershot)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the level of the contribution of the heritage aviation sector to the UK economy.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Aviation heritage plays a valuable role in our tourism economy. Events such as the Farnborough Airshow attract hundreds of thousands of tourists, and support the local economy, as well as being good for our aerospace and defence industry. My Department sponsors the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, which is visited by almost 400,000 visitors every year, and houses everything from Spitfires to Concorde.
The Heritage Lottery Fund is also open to applications which celebrate our rich aviation history. Recent recipients include Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, an historic site for aviation manufacturing and a successful tourist attraction given £4.7million, and the Stow Maries First World War Aerodrome in Essex, recently granted £4.3million to turn it into a major visitor attraction.
Asked by: Leo Docherty (Conservative - Aldershot)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to support airshows throughout the UK.
Answered by Michael Ellis
DCMS is a sponsor of VisitBritain and VisitEngland - who provide support for all types of hospitality and tourism stakeholders.
VisitBritain and VisitEngland make available a comprehensive library of guidance for tourism businesses - ranging from step by step marketing guides to advice on how to implement tourism related regulation.
In addition, VisitEngland supports tourism businesses through the £40 million Discover England Fund. There are no airshows included in the current projects.
Asked by: Leo Docherty (Conservative - Aldershot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to increase the level of medical support for people who have brain tumours.
Answered by Steve Brine
There is currently a major £130 million investment in the modernisation of radiotherapy equipment in England. Combined with new approaches to surgery, it is hoped that around 6,000 brain tumour patients a year will benefit from effective but less invasive treatments.
Improving early diagnosis of all cancer is a priority for this Government however we recognise that diagnosis of brain tumours can present certain challenges in general practice. As such, we support the work of HeadSmart in increasing awareness of symptoms that might be brain cancer. As well as making the National Health Service in England aware of the benefits of HeadSmart we have highlighted its benefits with Directors of Public Health, health visitors and school nurses, to encourage their use by professionals in signposting to specialist advice if needed. Further information is available at:
NHS England has confirmed £200 million of transformation funding over the next two years, to encourage local areas to find new and innovative ways to diagnose cancer earlier. NHS England’s Accelerate, Co-ordinate, Evaluate (ACE) programme is testing innovative ways of diagnosing cancer earlier, with ACE Wave 2 piloting multi-disciplinary diagnostic centres for patients with vague or non-specific symptoms, such as brain cancers.
Finally, the government has committed its support to the newly established Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce. The Taskforce is a radical new taskforce representing cancers with stubbornly poor survival rates, specifically lung, liver, brain, oesophageal, pancreatic and stomach cancers. Although cancer survival rates are at an all-time high, these cancers all have a five-year survival rate of less than 20%. The Taskforce calls for the changes required in research, diagnosis, treatment and care to level up the less survivable cancers with those where great progress has been made.
Asked by: Leo Docherty (Conservative - Aldershot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to (a) increase public awareness of the symptoms of brain tumours and (b) promote early diagnoses of that condition.
Answered by Steve Brine
There is currently a major £130 million investment in the modernisation of radiotherapy equipment in England. Combined with new approaches to surgery, it is hoped that around 6,000 brain tumour patients a year will benefit from effective but less invasive treatments.
Improving early diagnosis of all cancer is a priority for this Government however we recognise that diagnosis of brain tumours can present certain challenges in general practice. As such, we support the work of HeadSmart in increasing awareness of symptoms that might be brain cancer. As well as making the National Health Service in England aware of the benefits of HeadSmart we have highlighted its benefits with Directors of Public Health, health visitors and school nurses, to encourage their use by professionals in signposting to specialist advice if needed. Further information is available at:
NHS England has confirmed £200 million of transformation funding over the next two years, to encourage local areas to find new and innovative ways to diagnose cancer earlier. NHS England’s Accelerate, Co-ordinate, Evaluate (ACE) programme is testing innovative ways of diagnosing cancer earlier, with ACE Wave 2 piloting multi-disciplinary diagnostic centres for patients with vague or non-specific symptoms, such as brain cancers.
Finally, the government has committed its support to the newly established Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce. The Taskforce is a radical new taskforce representing cancers with stubbornly poor survival rates, specifically lung, liver, brain, oesophageal, pancreatic and stomach cancers. Although cancer survival rates are at an all-time high, these cancers all have a five-year survival rate of less than 20%. The Taskforce calls for the changes required in research, diagnosis, treatment and care to level up the less survivable cancers with those where great progress has been made.
Asked by: Leo Docherty (Conservative - Aldershot)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that the new British blue passports are produced in the UK.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
There is no reason to require UK passports to be manufactured in the United Kingdom. Up to 20 per cent of blank passport books are currently produced in Europe with no security or operational concerns.
All passports are personalised with the holder’s details in the United Kingdom, meaning that no personal data leaves the UK. This will continue under the next passport contract.
Asked by: Leo Docherty (Conservative - Aldershot)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of equipping more police officers with Taser non-lethal weapons, and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Hurd
We are committed to giving the police the necessary tools to do their job and TASER®, a form of conducted energy device (CED), provides officers with an important less-lethal, tactical option when facing potentially physically violent situations.
While its use must be in line with the Home Secretary’s authorisation of the device, the deployment of TASER® is an operational matter for Chief Officers. It is for them to determine the number of devices and specially trained officers based on their force assessment of threat and risk.
Asked by: Leo Docherty (Conservative - Aldershot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of whether there is a link between participation in sport and mental health wellbeing among school pupils; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department works closely with the Department of Health and Social Care on the mental health of children.
There is a range of more general evidence on the benefits of participation in sport and physical activity. The Chief Medical Officer’s annual report in 2012 highlighted that regular participation in physical activity offers children health and social benefits, impacting on physiological health as well as social wellbeing.
‘How healthy behaviour supports children’s wellbeing’, a report published by Public Health England (PHE) in 2013 summarised evidence in this area: https://www.gov.uk/
government/publications/how-healthy-behaviour-supports-childrens-wellbeing.
PHE also published guidance in 2015, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/
publications/what-works-in-schools-to-increase-physical-activity-briefing.
PE remains compulsory at all four key stages in the national curriculum. Through the primary PE and sport premium, the Government has provided over £600 million to primary schools to be spent on the improvement of PE and sport. The Government doubled funding for the premium to £320 million a year from September 2017.
Asked by: Leo Docherty (Conservative - Aldershot)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the proportion of parachute regiment personnel that are up to date with parachute training; and whether he plans to increase the provision of jump training.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
89% of eligible regular personnel in The Parachute Regiment are qualified and 'competent' parachutists, meaning they have the requisite level of skill as a military parachutist to conduct their job. Detailed information regarding readiness is not released as it would disclose to adversaries the picture of our capability in Defence.
From April 2017 the Army has increased the number of Army Parachute Jump Instructors and the provision of parachutes.