On 14th February 2019 the House of Lords held a short debate on a question from Lord Roberts of Llandudno, “to ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to improve immigration procedures in the United Kingdom.” The Bishop of Durham, Rt Revd Paul Butler, took part:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I too thank the noble Lord for securing this debate, and need to declare my own interest, as laid out in the register, as a trustee of Reset.
Given the velocity with which the incredibly narrow immigration Bill will likely be sped through this House, any and all opportunities for Parliament to provide scrutiny of immigration is to be welcomed. Without more scrutiny we seem to risk squandering the potential for a reset moment in the way that the UK thinks, debates and legislates about migration.
On 13th February 2019 Baroness Neville-Rolf asked the Government “whether they intend to introduce a simple and uniform system for both (1) labelling plastic and (2) bin collections in England, with the aim of reducing the use of plastic and encouraging recycling.” The Bishop of Salisbury, Rt Revd Nick Holtam, asked a follow up question:
On 13th February 2019 the Bishop of Durham received a written answer to a question on relations between Rwanda and Burundi:
The Lord Bishop of Newcastle: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to tackle hate crime in schools; and what assessment they have made of the recent incident of vandalism at Bahr Academy.
On 12th February 2019 Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb asked the Government “what plans they have to achieve net zero carbon emissions in farming.” The Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith, asked a follow up question:
On 11th February 2019 Lord Dubs asked the Government “how many refugee children have arrived in the United Kingdom from Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey under the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme, since its launch in April 2016.” The Bishop of Salisbury, Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam, asked a follow-up question:
This week in the House of Lords bishops asked questions about nursing provision in rural areas, Zimbabwe, police widows, Nissan, gambling addiction, and access to funding for community groups. A bishop spoke during the debate on the Government’s Offensive Weapons Bill about the proposed new Knife Crime Prevention Orders. 
On 6th February 2019 the House of Lords considered the Government’s Offensive Weapons Bill in its third day of Committee. The Bishop of Newcastle, Rt Revd Chrisine Hardman spoke against Government amendments to create new Knife Crime Prevention Orders. The amendments were withdrawn following the debate, but the Minister indicated they were likely to be returned to again at a later stage:
On 6th February 2019 Rt Revd Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham, received a written answer to a question about Police widows pension entitlements. 
The Church of England in Parliament 
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