Month: April 2023

Online Safety Bill: Bishop of Guildford supports amendments to prevent children from accessing pornography online

The Bishop of Guildford spoke in support of amendments aiming to prevent children from accessing online pornography during a debate on the Online Safety Bill on 25th April 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Guildford: My Lords, one of our clergy in the diocese of Guildford has been campaigning for more than a decade, as have others in this Committee, on children’s access to online pornography. With her, I support the amendments in the names of the noble Baronesses, Lady Kidron and Lady Harding.

Her concerns eventually made their way to the floor of the General Synod of the Church of England in a powerful debate in July last year. The synod voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion, which said that we

“acknowledge that our children and young people are suffering grave harm from free access to online pornography”

and urged us to

“have in place age verification systems to prevent children from having access to those sites”.

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Online Safety Bill: Bishop of Oxford supports amendments on preventing harms to children

On 25th April 2023, the House of Lords debated the Online Safety Bill in committee. The Bishop of Oxford spoke in the debate, in support of various amendments to the bill that would extend protections for children against online harms:

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the two noble Baronesses. I remind the Committee of my background as a board member of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation. I also declare an indirect interest, as my oldest son is the founder and studio head of Mediatonic, which is now part of Epic Games and is the maker of “Fall Guys”, which I am sure is familiar to your Lordships.

I speak today in support of Amendments 2 and 92 and the consequent amendments in this group. I also support the various app store amendments proposed by the noble Baroness, Lady Harding, but I will not address them directly in these remarks.

I was remarkably encouraged on Wednesday by the Minister’s reply to the debate on the purposes of the Bill, especially by the priority that he and the Government gave to the safety of children as its primary purpose. The Minister underlined this point in three different ways:

“The main purposes of the Bill are: to give the highest levels of protection to children … The Bill will require companies to take stringent measures to tackle illegal content and protect children, with the highest protections in the Bill devoted to protecting children … Children’s safety is prioritised throughout this Bill”.—[Official Report, 19/4/23; col. 724.]

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Bishop of St Albans asks about threats to underseas infrastructure

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on communication with global allies regarding threats to undersea infrastructure on 25th April 2023, referencing recent events in Taiwan:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I was interested to hear the Minister commenting on our engagement with our European allies. However, with reports recently that submarine cables connecting the Taiwanese mainland with the island of Matsu have been cut by Chinese boats, this is an international problem. What consultations are we having with allies around the world; in particular, so that we can try to develop back-up systems when countries are put under threat by this sort of action?

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Bishop of London asks about financial support for those suffering from long Covid

The Bishop of London asked a question on access to PIP and other financial support for those suffering from long Covid and unable to work on 25th April 2023:

The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, the advice of the DWP and DHSC is that, if those impacted by long Covid are unable to work, they will be able to access financial assistance through schemes such as PIP. However, in practice, as the noble Baroness said, there is a lack of recognition of long Covid among GPs and PIP assessors. What steps are the Government taking to make sure that more long Covid sufferers are identified and able to access financial support?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about infrastructure grant paid to farmers

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 25th March 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how much was paid to farmers through the Slurry Infrastructure grant in 2022.

Lord Benyon (Con): To date no payments are due under the Slurry Infrastructure Grant. The Rural Payments Agency has been assessing approximately 1,300 expressions of interest and will be inviting those applicants in the highest priority areas to submit a full application by the deadline of 24 June 2024. Once work has been completed claims will be submitted and payments issued.

Hansard

Bishop of St Albans asks about government meetings with representatives from the gambling industry

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 25th April 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what meetings (1) ministers, and (2) senior officials, at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have had with representatives from the gambling industry in the past six months.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con): Ministers and officials at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly meet a range of people and organisations with an interest in gambling, including industry and charity representatives, to hear their views on the sector and to discuss areas of concern. All ministerial meetings are published on GOV.UK and can be accessed on that website.

Hansard

Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill: Bishop of Guildford supports safety remediation scheme

On 24th April 2023, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill in its 11th day of the committee stage. The Bishop of Guildford spoke in support of an amendment to the bill tabled by the Earl of Lytton that would “implement a building safety remediation scheme to ensure that buildings with building safety risks are put right without costs to leaseholders.”

The Lord Bishop of Guildford: My Lords, for six years in the early 90s I was a priest in Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and had never lived in a place where the vision of levelling up was quite so necessary and quite so localised. The very wealthy were often living cheek by jowl with the very poor, and meanwhile, on looking north from one of our churches was the unmistakeable sight of a brutalist 24-floor block of flats on Grenfell Road, which 25 years later was to become the scene of an unspeakable, though sadly not quite unimaginable, tragedy.

Making buildings safe for leaseholders has since become a priority for the Government, which is to be welcomed. As the noble Lord indicated, this support remains both limited and partial, creating a new distinction between the haves and have-nots of leaseholding when it comes to the most basic of principles: that the homes in which we live, work and raise our families should be safe. I happened to meet one of those have-not leaseholders this morning, for whom insuring his flat, let alone selling it, has become virtually impossible.

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Offenders (Day of Release from Detention) Bill: Bishop of Leeds speaks in favour of changes to prison release procedures

On 21st April 2023, the Bishop of Leeds spoke in support of the Offenders (Day of Release from Detention) Bill, which would ensure that people are not released from prison on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday in order to ensure proper access to services and support:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to rise in the gap to sing from the same hymn sheet and welcome this Bill. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Bird, on his inspirational work and commitment to these matters. We need an urgent change in practice for those who leave prison. I know that my friend the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Gloucester, who is not able to be here today but leads for the Church of England on prisons, also welcomes this Bill.

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Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill: Bishop of Leeds supports new definition for affordable homes

On 20th April 2023, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. The Bishop of Leeds spoke in favour of an amendment that would tie the definition of “affordable homes” to median income:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, I shall speak in support of Amendment 242 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Stunell. I do so having consulted the Bishop of Chelmsford, who leads for the Church of England on housing but is unable to be here today. It is clear, I think, that we need to rethink what genuinely affordable housing is and how an adequate supply can be delivered. In London, the south-east and many other areas across the country, the current affordable housing for rent definition of 20% below market rates makes little difference to those on a median income, let alone those in most need. Without redefinition, we will continue to work under the illusion that homes classed as affordable are helping to solve the housing affordability crisis, when for the most part they are not.

Of course, we need a multifaceted approach to solve the lack of affordable homes. I was interested to learn from the Bishop of Chelmsford that Vicky Ford MP has been addressing this in relation to Chelmsford. During her 10-minute rule Bill debate on 22 February, she spoke to the shortage of affordable housing we face locally and nationally. Her Affordable Housing (Conversion of Commercial Property) Bill would apply affordable housing obligations to conversions of commercial property to residential occupancy. The Bill is due its Second Reading in the Commons on 26 May, and we certainly hope that it will make some progress.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about financial literacy in schools

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on government efforts to promote financial literacy in schools on 20th April 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to promote financial literacy in schools.

Baroness Barran (Con): My Lords, we work closely with the Money and Pensions Service and the Treasury to support the effective teaching of financial education in schools. The Money and Pensions Service has published financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools and we will deliver webinars for schools in due course. Our national network of 40 maths hubs also supports schools to improve their mathematics teaching, including financial content in the mathematics curriculum, based on best practice from east Asia.

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