Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications of her policies of the designation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern by the US.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government does not comment on our partners' decisions on individual designations.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help reduce business crime.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We encourage retailers to join their local Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) or Business Improvement District (BID) to support local community efforts to reduce crimes, including business crime.
We are providing over £7 million over the next three years to support the police and retailers tackle retail crime, £2 million of which has been specifically allocated to the police-led National Business Crime Centre (NBCC). NBCC provide a valuable resource for both police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat crime. This funding will help tackle the crimes most affecting businesses today.
We also supported the recent Safer Business Action week (SaBA) organised by the NBCC. SaBA weeks are a joint initiative by police, business, private security, Business Crime Reduction Partnerships and Business Improvement Districts, who work in together and focus resources into a designated location, creating a significant impact to reduce crime.
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will also ensure that every community in England and Wales will have named and contactable officers dealing with local issues, and that neighbourhood teams spend the majority of their time in their communities providing visible patrols and engaging with local communities and businesses. This will be supported by the delivery of up to an additional 3000 officers into neighbourhood teams by Spring next year, as part of our ambition to deliver 13,000 neighbourhood officers into police forces across England and Wales by the end of this parliament.
Additionally, the Home Secretary recently announced a “Winter of Action”, building on the success of our Safer Streets Summer campaign to tackle town centre crime including shop theft and anti-social behaviour.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve diagnosis for people with chronic throat issues.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
General practitioners (GPs) are usually the first point of contact for patients with persistent throat symptoms. They are expected to carry out an initial assessment, rule out common causes, and identify any “red flag” symptoms that require urgent referral to specialists.
We expect GPs to have regard to guidance published by the National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) and others when diagnosing or referring patients with persistent throat problems, as these set out evidence-based standards and best practice for assessment and referral. Relevant advice appears in guideline NG84, titled Acute sore throat antimicrobial prescribing, and guideline NG12, titled Suspected cancer referral criteria, as well as Clinical Knowledge Summaries for related conditions. NICE recommendations do not override the individual responsibility of health professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of each patient, in consultation with the patient or their carer.
Healthcare professionals are expected to maintain their clinical knowledge as part of their continuing professional development. NICE guidance underpins this by providing evidence-based recommendations and structured learning resources that help them maintain up-to-date knowledge and improve the quality of patient care.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to increase levels of funding for veteran support centres in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
VALOUR is a new national programme designed to make it easier for veterans across the UK to access the care and support they deserve. Led by the Office for Veterans' Affairs (OVA) within the Ministry of Defence, it aims to improve how services are coordinated at national, regional and local levels, ensuring veterans get the right support, in the right place, at the right time.
A network of VALOUR recognised centres across the UK will facilitate access to multiple services for veterans in one place. £27 million in development funding for VALOUR recognised centres has been made available, with funds being issued on behalf of the OVA through the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust. I encourage organisations in Northern Ireland to apply to for this funding.
Veteran support organisations in Northern Ireland already benefit from other Government funding streams. Beyond the Battlefield has received £325,000 through the Veterans Capital Housing Fund and Reducing Veteran Homelessness Programme to support its wraparound care service and facilitate the provision of a 24/7 support network. The Northern Ireland Thrive Together Programme, meanwhile, which is led by Brooke House Health and Wellbeing Centre, has received a grant of £765,000 to support its Veterans' Pathway Project and the establishment of six locality-based hubs.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve (a) road resurfacing and (b) other infrastructure completion times.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This year, the Government made an additional £500 million available for local highway authorities to maintain their highway network, bringing the total to a record investment of nearly £1.6 billion. A quarter of the additional funding is contingent upon local highway authorities complying with certain criteria aimed at driving best practice and continual improvement in highways maintenance.
The Government also supports the rollout of lane rental schemes. This allows highway authorities to charge up to £2,500 per day for works on the busiest roads at peak times. This encourages quicker completion, off-peak working, or relocating works to reduce disruption on our roads. From January 2026, authorities will be able to use 50% of lane rental revenue for highway maintenance.
Highway authorities can issue overrun charges of up to £10,000 per day for works that exceed agreed timeframes. Currently these charges can only be applied on weekdays, however we are making changes to allow these charges to apply on weekends and bank holidays.
Finally, the Government has set out a new approach to infrastructure in the 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy, which was published in June 2025. This will restore confidence and drive economic growth by providing stability and certainty, and improve how infrastructure projects, like transport, are planned and delivered. We are working closely with HMT to ensure lessons learned from transport projects, such as set out in the James Stewart Review (published in June 2025) are incorporated into future priorities. The Department has accepted all recommendations from this Review and is already taking steps to implement them.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of the health impact of the long term use of marijuana.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to reducing the harm from all illicit drugs. Any illegal drug use, including cannabis, can be harmful, due to both the immediate side-effects and long-term physical and mental health problems. Cannabis use can contribute to and exacerbate existing mental health problems or can accelerate their development in people predisposed to mental health problems.
Taking cannabis in any form is risky. For instance, vaping supposed tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) may increase the risk of users unwittingly consuming more dangerous substances like synthetic cannabinoids. Where there are incidents of synthetic cannabinoids in THC vapes, the local authority public health team and the police force should take action with partners to warn and protect their communities. The Department is tracking reports nationally and its regional teams are providing localised warnings and support.
The Department has recently launched a media campaign to raise awareness of the risks posed by new drug trends and products, including the adulteration of ‘THC’ vapes with other drugs like synthetic cannabinoids.
Furthermore, statutory guidance on relationships, sex, and health education requires all primary and secondary schools to ensure that pupils know the key facts and risks associated with alcohol and drug use, as well as how to manage influences and pressure, and keep themselves healthy and safe. The Department has worked with the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education Association to develop lesson plans on alcohol and drugs and has commissioned an update of the resources to be published later this year.
The Government will continue to work with our partners to discourage drug use and to alert people, particularly young people, to the potential dangers of cannabis. The Government has a drug information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce drug misuse and its harms by increasing awareness, particularly for young people and parents. FRANK offers easy to read information on the risks of using cannabis and basic harm reduction advice. Information on cannabis is available at the following link:
https://www.talktofrank.com/drug/cannabis(opens%20in%20a%20new%20tab)
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of violence in women's prisons.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Violence in prisons may be caused, or triggered, by a range of factors, including personal characteristics such as existing patterns of behaviour, substance misuse or traumatic life experiences. Factors particularly relevant to the women’s estate include trauma, relational complexities and separation from children.
Information on the rate of assaults in female establishments in the 12 months to June 2025 can be found at the following link: Safety in Custody Statistics, England and Wales: Deaths in Prison Custody to September 2025 Assaults and Self-harm to June 2025 - GOV.UK.
The Managing Women in Crisis Working Group in His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) was established to increase understanding of complex behaviour in this group of prisoners, and to consider how best to support them. This includes developing guidance and training for staff. In addition, HMPPS’s Women’s Estate Case Advice and Support Panel supports establishments in the management of women with complex needs. It aims to help reduce risk and to enable women to progress in their sentences.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve mental health awareness training for the agricultural sector.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. Defra funds the Farmer Welfare Grant that includes a recipient consortium led by The Farmer Network that is delivering mental health first aid training to those who interact with farmers. Participants reported an almost 100% increase in their knowledge and confidence in discussing mental health. Another recipient, the Lincolnshire Rural Support Network are also delivering farmer specific mental health awareness and first aid sessions to the sector.
Furthermore, the department is also increasing awareness of mental health training opportunities by signposting resources to our customers and supporting the rollout of training for our staff who directly engage with individuals in the sector.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of trends in the level of global milk demand.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Uk Agricultural Market Monitoring Group which was established by Defra and the Devolved Governments under the Devolution Framework is responsible for the oversight and monitoring of the UK agriculture market. This includes a review of prices, production, inputs and trade covering an assessment of current and future global demand for dairy products. The current position indicates broadly stable demand for dairy across the world alongside continued rising supply and falling prices.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of waiting times for firearms licensing.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The issuing of firearms certificates, resourcing of firearms licensing teams and the efficiency of police forces is a matter for individual Chief Officers of Police and Police and Crime Commissioners. In the interests of consistency and transparency, the National Policing Chiefs Council Lead for Firearms Licensing has published performance data for firearms licensing teams in all forces. This includes performance against a target for forces to complete applications for the grant or renewal of firearm and shotgun certificates within four months, unless there are concerns about the suitability of the applicant.
Working with the National Policing Chiefs Council Lead for Firearms Licensing, we continue to review the licensing performance of all forces and we will continue to engage with individual Chief Officers and Police and Crime Commissioners where there are specific concerns about any forces’ performance.