Welcome to the Church of England’s weekly round-up of activity in Parliament.
This week, bishops in the House of Lords spoke on apprenticeships, the EU referendum, child trafficking and air pollution. A bishop also led a debate on rural housing and right to buy. Questions were put to Government on benefit fraud and short term benefit advances, and human rights in Saudi Arabia. Continue reading “Church of England Week in Westminster 12th-16th October 2015”
On 19th October 2015 the House of Lords considered amendments to the Government’s Energy Bill at its Report stage. Labour Peer Baroness Worthington moved an amendment to, in her words, “change the fundamental objective of the Oil and Gas Authority: to make it fit for purpose, comprehensive and a little bit closer to what we would expect a regulator representing the Government’s interests in the extraction of oil and gas to be interested in; and to maximise economic return from our resources, not necessarily just the economic recovery of fossil fuels.”
Amendment 11: after clause 3, to insert the new clause Transportation and storage of greenhouse gases.
The House divided: Contents: 251 | Not Contents: 179 | Result: Government Defeat
The Bishops of Salisbury, Southwark and St Albans all voted content. No bishop voted not content.
(via Parliament.uk)
On 15th October 2015 the Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith, led a debate in the House of Lords to ask the Government “how they plan to deliver a sustainable supply of affordable housing in rural communities, particularly in the light of the planned extension of the Right to Buy scheme.” The full text of the Bishop’s speech is below, as is the response from the Minister.
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I am very grateful to all those who have agreed to contribute to this debate, many of whom have huge experience in this area, and I am looking forward to what they have to say.
The provision of affordable housing is vital to the long-term sustainability of rural communities so that they continue to be places where a broad cross-section of people can live and work. It is all the more important, given that rural house prices are currently well beyond the means of many lower-income and middle-income people. Indeed, it is estimated that in 90% of rural authorities, the average home costs eight times the average salary. However, rural communities currently face a serious lack of affordable housing. Only 8% of rural housing stock is considered affordable, compared with 20% in urban areas. The amount of new affordable rural housing is also low. In 2013, only 2,886 affordable homes were built in rural areas out of nearly 40,000 affordable homes nationally. Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans leads Lords debate on rural housing and Right to Buy”
On 15th October 2015 the House of Lords debated apprenticeships. The Bishop of Derby, Rt Revd Alastair Redfern spoke in the debate. His remarks and the minister’s response are below:
The Lord Bishop of Derby: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Prosser, for introducing this debate so clearly and raising so many important issues. I also commend the Government’s aspiration for 3 million apprenticeships and for greater flexibility and a range of standards. I also endorse the point made by the noble Baroness about the reality of a skill shortage and the urgency of us tackling this agenda. I remind the House that apprenticeship comes from an understanding of learning and that it is not just about skills, but about skills learnt in the workplace—that is, in a real context. That, of course, shapes people to be citizens as well as workers. I hope that understanding of apprenticeship will remain at the centre of this initiative and not get pushed to one side by a more narrow focus on skills per se. Continue reading “Bishop of Derby speaks about the importance of apprenticeships and employer academies”
On 15th October 2015 Lord Dubs asked Her Majesty’s Government “whether they have any proposals to improve air quality in Britain, especially in London.” The Bishop of London, Rt Revd Richard Chartres asked a supplementary question.
The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, in the Minister’s reply, mention was made of the Mayor of London. Is the Minister absolutely convinced that the mayor, together with the boroughs and the City of London, has the necessary powers to effect a pan-London improvement of the situation? Obviously, pollution does not respect borough boundaries and the impression locally is that, at the moment, the mayor does not have the requisite powers. Continue reading “Bishop of London asks Government about air pollution in London”
On 15th October 2015 Baroness Doocey asked Her Majesty’s Government “whether there has been an increase in the number of cases of child trafficking reported since the Modern Slavery Act 2015 was passed.” The Bishop of Derby, Rt Revd Alastair Redfern, asked a supplementary question:
The Lord Bishop of Derby: My Lords, what is being done to ensure that the responses of police forces to their new responsibilities is uniform across the country, because it may be very patchy with budget pressures? Will the Government take a lead to ensure a uniform response of police forces to these responsibilities across the country? Continue reading “Bishop of Derby asks about police responses to reported cases of child trafficking”
On 15th October 2015 the Bishop of Truro, Rt Revd Tim Thornton, received a written answer to a question on short term benefit advances.
The Lord Bishop of Truro: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to publish data on the number of claims and
awards of Short Term Benefit Advances and Universal
Credit Short Term Advances. Continue reading “Bishop of Truro asks Government for figures on numbers of short term benefit advances awarded”
On 15th October 2015 the Bishop of Derby, Rt Revd Alastair Redfern, received answers to three written questions on how Jobcentre Plus deals with benefit fraud.
The Lord Bishop of Derby: To ask Her Majesty’s Government
(i) what policy is in place to enable Jobcentre Plus officers to identify benefit fraud.
(ii) how Jobcentre Plus officers report suspected benefit fraud.
(iii) whether there is a statutory obligation for Jobcentre Plus officers to report suspected benefit fraud. Continue reading “Bishop of Derby asks Government about procedures for identifying benefit fraud”
On 14th October 2015 the House of Lords considered the Government’s Childcare Bill at its Report stage. The House voted on an amendment from Baroness Jones of Whitchurch, which sought to delay the introduction of Government plans to double the amount of free childcare for parents of three and four-year-olds until a full analysis of the funding the policy had been carried out. An ITV news report on the vote is here.
Amendment: ‘before clause 1, to insert the new clause Funding review’.
The House divided: Contents: 222 | Not Contents: 209 | Result: Government Defeat
The Bishop of St Albans voted content. No bishop voted not content.
(via Parliament.uk)
“There must be more to this referendum than a calculation of the temporary individual economic benefit or disbenefit of membership of the Union in its present form” – Bishop of London 13/10/15
On 13th October 2015 the House of Lords debated the EU Referendum Bill at its Second Reading. The Bishop of London, Rt Rev Richard Chartres, spoke in the debate.
The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, in a matter as grave as the future relations between Britain and the European Union, there is perhaps a case for a referendum, which one hopes would settle the direction of travel for a generation. The referendum habit has elsewhere proved contagious. They tend to be run again if those in power do not get the answer they want. There must be a very strong case to justify an exception from our settled preference for a representative democracy that permits the kinds of compromises that the art of government requires. Continue reading “EU Referendum Bill – speech by the Bishop of London”
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