Author: parliamentaryunit

Bishop of St Albans speaks about universal credit

On 23rd March 2022, the House of Lords Grand Committee debated the Economic Affairs Committee Report on Universal Credit. The Bishop of St Albans made the following speech:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I first add my thanks to the Economics Affairs Committee for producing this excellent report. As is often the case with a Select Committee report, reading it is not only enlightening but deeply informative. I have learned a great deal from it, for which I am grateful.

I too pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, for his tenacity, such as when securing the intervention in the Chamber earlier. It was so interesting that the concerns were being raised from every Bench. I hope the Government Whips and others are listening to the profound unease coming from every quarter of the House; it is not going to go away. I have experience of working across two relatively well-off counties. I used to work in the Black Country, but nowadays I have responsibility for Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, which are fairly wealthy, by and large. The concerns coming out of parts of Watford, Stevenage and Bedford are uniform: we are facing a serious challenge.

I have to confess to noble Lords that some of the material in this report was new to me. I am ashamed to say that I had not realised, until reading it, that universal credit is being used by the Government as a vehicle to recover debt. I was glad to be able to raise that earlier although I do not think the Minister understood the point I was making, because we received no answer. This is deeply disconcerting, not only because it will not deliver what the Government want. Simply taking pennies off the poor at a time when Her Majesty’s Government have written off £16 billion in Covid business loans due to errors and fraud—which led to resignations from the Front Bench in our own House—is quite extraordinary and unrealistic.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about debt recovery

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question about debt recovery on 23rd March 2022, during a debate on the government’s spring statement:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, in the light of the huge inflationary pressures that are on people across the board and with the Government’s plan to use universal credit as a way of recovering £6 billion-worth of historic tax credit debt, what assessment has been made of whether there is the slightest chance of recovering those debts? What assessment has been made of that level of debt?

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Bishop of Leeds asks about the cost of living

The Bishop of Leeds asked a question about the impact of the rising cost of living on 23rd March 2022, during a debate on the government’s Loneliness Strategy:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, have the Government made any assessment of the likely impact of the cost-of-living crisis, including energy prices and all of that, on family breakdown in this country?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about Armenian historical sites

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 23rd March 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 7 March (HL6312), what assessment they have made as to whether the process of Albanization is occurring in relation to (1) churches, and (2) monasteries, in (a) Nagorno-Karabakh, and (b) the surrounding regions, retaken by Azerbaijan.

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Archbishop of Canterbury raises concerns about P&O Ferries, worker wages and security

On 22nd March 2022 the Archbishop of Canterbury responded to a statement by the Government on the behaviour of P&O Ferries towards its workers. The Archbishop raised three points relating to reporting to Parliament on progress of talks, the wages of P&O staff, and the security of services in British waters.

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Votes: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill

On 22nd March 2022, the House of Lords considered Commons amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Votes were held on further amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part.

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Bishop of Leeds asks about the difficulties of challenging the police

The Bishop of Leeds asked a question about the difficulty of saying “No” to the police on 22nd October 2022, during a debate on an incident 2020 in which the Metropolitan Police had strip-searched a schoolgirl in Hackney:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, there is an underlying question here that came up in the Sarah Everard case: how do you say no to the police? What do the Government plan to do to encourage and support schools and public authorities in addressing that question?

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Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Leeds speaks in debate regarding protest regulations

On 22nd March 2022, the House of Lords debated Commons Amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The Bishop of Leeds spoke in the debate:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, I was not going to add to the argument, but—and I do not want to depress the noble Lord, Lord Coaker—I have never been on a demonstration. At least, I have not been on a demonstration that was protesting against something.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about support for those on low incomes

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question about debt and support for those on low incomes on 22nd March 2022, during a debate on social security:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, does the Minister agree with me that we need a wide range of supportive schemes when we are trying to work with those who are coping with the issues caused by low incomes? Have Her Majesty’s Government assessed the Financial Shield pilot scheme which is running at the moment? It brings together health professionals and community organisations, as well as creditors, who are trying to take a long-term supportive approach to working with those who find themselves in debt?

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Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Manchester speaks on violence reduction and on regulations on noise from protests

On 22nd March 2022, the House of Lords debated Commons amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The Bishop of Manchester spoke twice in the debate, first voicing his concerns regarding serious violence reduction orders:

My Lords, I echo the thoughts that the noble Lord, Lord Young, has just shared. I declare my interest as chair of the Manchester Homelessness Partnership board and as co-chair of the national police ethics committee, because I also wish to speak to the Motion regarding serious violence reduction orders.

I support the Vagrancy Act repeal, as I know my right reverend and most reverend friends on these Benches do, and have sought to see that included in previous Bills. I am grateful that it is now on track and I look forward to working with Ministers and others to ensure that we avoid any unintended consequences and do not simply recreate the old Act in more modern language.

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