On 30th November 2015 the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Alan Smith, received a written answer to his question about the number of children being home schooled.
Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children were being home educated in each of the years 2010 to 2014 inclusive. Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks question on Home Schooling”
On the 30th November 2015 the Church Commissioners answered two written questions from Mark Hendrick MP on the Lords’ Prayer cinema advert.
Mr Mark Hendrick (Preston): To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, in which (a) local and (b) national newspapers the Church of England plans to place advertisements with the text of the Lord’s Prayer.
On 30th November 2015 the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Rt Hon Caroline Spelman MP, answered a written question from Mark Hendrick MP on vandalism of graves in churchyards.
Mr Mark Hendrick (Preston): To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, how many graves in each church yard in each diocese in England were vandalised in 2014.
Mrs Caroline Spelman: The information requested is not retained at the national level and would incur a disproportionate cost to produce.
Wilful damage and theft of monumental stonework causes much emotional and financial distress. The Church is continuing to work with local Dioceses, police, insurers and local communities to improve security and awareness.
(Via Parliament.uk)
Welcome to the Church of England’s weekly round-up of activity in Parliament.
This week bishops in the House of Lords responded to the Prime Minister’s statement on Syria and military action and spoke on freedom of speech in universities, community relations and counter-terrorism, and the impact of loneliness on health and well-being. Questions were asked about the Government’s defence review, support for rural small businesses and food banks. The Bishop of Chelmsford raised in the House the decision by Digital Cinema Media not to screen an advert by the Church of England.
Monday 23rd November
The Bishop of Leeds responded to the Government’s statement on the Defence and Security Review.
Tuesday 24th November
The Bishop of St Albans asked about support for rural small businesses.
Wednesday 25th November
The Bishop of Chelmsford asked a question he had tabled on the decision of Digital Cinema Media not to screen an advert from the Church of England.
Thursday 26th November
The Archbishop of Canterbury asked Government about the link between food bank use and benefit changes. He also responded to the Prime Minister’s statement on Syria and military action.
The Bishop of Ely spoke in a debate on freedom of speech at universities.
The Bishop of Rochester spoke in a debate about counter-terrorism and community cohesion.
The Bishop of Bristol spoke in a debate about public health, highlighting the impact of loneliness and isolation.
On 26th November 2015 the House of Lords debated a motion from Lord Crisp, “that this House takes note of the case for building a health-creating society in the United Kingdom where all sectors contribute to creating a healthy and resilient population.” The Bishop of Bristol, Rt Revd Mike Hill, spoke in the debate:
The Lord Bishop of Bristol: My Lords, I, too, am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Crisp, for introducing this debate and this very big idea into the Chamber. Already we start to see that the breadth of material that needs to be thought about in relation to creating a healthy society is indeed vast. I sat here for some of the debate thinking were I the Minister—God forbid—how I might respond to such a plethora of concerns that have been articulated. I wish him well with that.
Of course, what we cannot do, as several noble Lords have noted, is expect the Government to solve this on their own, although I think there is a major challenge involved in this for government. That is what I would call the alignment of policy—how do you align policy over a very wide range of areas in life in such a way that human well-being emerges from it? Continue reading “Bishop of Bristol highlights the effect of loneliness on health and wellbeing”
On 26th November 2015 the House of Lords debated a motion from Baroness Mobarik: “To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the attacks in Paris on 13 November, what steps they plan to take to foster links between communities, as part of their counterterrorism strategy.” The Bishop of Rochester, Rt Revd James Langstaff, spoke in the debate:
The Lord Bishop of Rochester: My Lords, I, too, am very grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Mobarik, for initiating the debate and for the opportunity to speak in it. I am grateful, too, to the noble Baroness, Lady Eaton, for saying some of the things about Near Neighbours that I might have said. That will save me having to do it. It is good to have other advocates of these things.
The point has been made already, not least by the noble Lord, Lord Harris, that the important issues raised in the debate, although perhaps prompted by part of the current world situation, have been there for many generations. Many of us have been working away at them for a good many years. None the less, one of the strands in the Government’s counterterrorism strategy, published last month, has been the building and strengthening of community links within and between communities. It is a very important strand that clearly builds on things that many of us have been involved in before. In many ways it is the most difficult strand, because it requires perseverance and hard work over many years. It requires commitment in local communities and all the things that lead to fruitful engagement. Continue reading “Bishop of Rochester highlights work of faiths in promoting community cohesion”
“If we allow the dominant agenda to become the refusal to be exposed to being offended, we deny ourselves the rich opportunity to be agents of the transformation of conflict through positive engagement.”– Bishop of Ely, 26/11/5
On 26th November 2015 the House of Lords debated a motion from Baroness Deech: “That this House takes note of the protection of freedom of speech in universities.” The Bishop of Ely, Rt Revd Stephen Conway, spoke in the debate:
The Lord Bishop of Ely: I, too, take the opportunity to congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, for bringing this debate about. I would be very glad to engage in metaphysical conversation with the noble Lord, Lord Patten, about the soul of the university sometime outside the Chamber. I am more concerned for us to promote and understand the importance of religious literacy in the defence of free speech, and the Church’s engagement with a number of institutions in seeking to make the most of the Prevent agenda without throwing aside openness and readiness to engage in full debate. Continue reading “Bishop of Ely defends freedom of speech in universities”
On 26th November 2015 the Leader of the House of Lords, Baroness Stowell, repeated in the Lords a statement given earlier in the day to the House of Commons by the Prime Minister about Syria and the possibility of military action. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Revd and Rt Hon Justin Welby, responded:
The Archbishop of Canterbury: I thank the Leader of the House for the repetition of the Statement, and particularly the publication of the Foreign Affairs Committee report, and welcome the seriousness of the emphasis in both the Statement and the report on a comprehensive approach—the seriousness of military action but also the integration of soft and hard power, support for jobs, education, family and community life and stability, and of communities flourishing in the neighbouring countries, which comes out very strongly. The test will obviously be the total mobilisation of effort in a focused way that recognises the long-term needs of security for indigenous populations, particularly the Christian populations, which are being harried out of the area. Continue reading “Syria and military action – Archbishop of Canterbury responds to Prime Minister’s statement”
On 26th November 2015 Lord Beecham asked Her Majesty’s Government “what assessment they have made of the provision of food banks at, and the distribution of food to people in need by, NHS hospitals.” The Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Rev & Rt Hon Justin Welby, asked a supplementary question:
The Archbishop of Canterbury: Does the Minister recognise that the comments at the time of the previous Government about there being no link between benefit changes and food banks was significantly challenged at the time and that our experience in Church of England, which is involved in the vast majority of food banks across the country, is that between 35% and 45% of people coming to get support from food banks report that the reason for running out of food is to do with changes to the benefit system and sanctions?
Lord Prior of Brampton:All I can do is repeat what I said before which is that, as Ed Davey said, there is no statistical link, in his view, between the Government’s benefits reforms and the provision of food banks. I think that the issue is much more complex than the most reverend Primate is suggesting.
(via Parliament.uk)
On 25th November 2015 the Bishop of Chelmsford, Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell asked a question of Government about the decision by Digital Cinema Media not to accept an advertisement from the Church of England featuring the reading of the Lord’s Prayer. The video can be seen on the website justpray.uk A full transcript of the exchange and those that followed, is below.
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the freedom of religious and non-religious organisations to express their beliefs in the public sphere, in the light of the decision by Digital Cinema Media not to accept advertisements from the Church of England.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Williams of Trafford) (Con): My Lords, freedom of expression, including freedom of the media, is fundamental to democratic society. Open discussion of faith issues has the benefit of bringing communities together, thereby giving rise to greater understand among faith groups. In this case, the decision not to accept the advertisement was by an independent media organisation. The Government made clear that they do not agree with that decision and urged the cinema to look again.
Continue reading “Lord’s Prayer Cinema Advert Ban – Bishop of Chelmsford asks question in Lords”
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