Bills – Page 53 – The Church of England in Parliament

Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of St Albans supports restrictions on hare coursing

On 17th January 2022, the House of Lords debated the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill in the sixth day of the report stage. The Bishop of St Albans spoke in the debate, supporting amendments that would place restrictions and penalties on hare coursing (hunting hares with dogs):

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I declare my interest as president of the Rural Coalition. It is a great delight to stand in the House and congratulate the Government on tabling these amendments to address this very serious rural problem of hare-coursing, which has affected so many landowners and farmers across these islands. In particular, I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Sharpe of Epsom, who really listened to the debate, when people from every part of the Chamber spoke. I know that he has taken that back to others. I am hugely grateful to him for doing that.

Health & Care Bill: Bishop of London supports voices of patients on Integrated Care Boards

On 13th January 2022, during a debate on the Health & Care Bill, the Bishop of London spoke in support of an amendment to the Health & Care Bill that would allow for patients to be represented on Integrated Care Boards (ICBs):

The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, I rose on the first day of this Committee to speak to the membership of NHS boards. I rise today for a similar reason: I think it is very difficult to stipulate the membership of boards, just as the noble Baroness has said. However, as I said with NHS boards, I say with ICB boards that I think the voice of the patient is central. Along with my role as the Government’s Chief Nursing Officer, I was director of patient experience while I was in the Department of Health. As a nurse at that time, I believed I had a patient focus. However, I learned that my default was always as a professional and that the patient needs a voice and empowerment. While I recognise the clinical voice and would always want it on the NHS board and the ICB board, it does not replace the voice of the patient and the carer.

Health & Care Bill: Bishop of St Albans tables amendments on health and social care in rural areas

During a debate on the Health & Care Bill on 13th January 2022, the Bishop of St Albans tabled two amendments on health inequalities in rural areas:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, Amendments 68 and 95 are in my name. I declare my role as president of the Rural Coalition. I support the broad drift of these amendments, which engage with the important issue of reducing inequalities.

Rural health and social care has often presented challenges in terms of proximity to services, the types of services available within a local area and the demographics of rural areas. It is complicated. Rural areas have a higher proportion of older residents, which is always a greater burden on healthcare services compared with areas with younger populations.

Health & Care Bill: Bishop of Carlisle supports amendments on health inequality on behalf of the Bishop of London

On 13th January 2022 the House of Lords debated the Health & Care Bill in its second day of committee. On behalf of the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Carlisle spoke in support of amendments seeking to reduce health inequalities:

The Lord Bishop of Carlisle: My Lords, I will speak on behalf of my noble friend the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of London. She has added her name to Amendment 65, and we on these Benches support the other amendments in this group that seek to reduce health inequalities. As we have heard, these amendments would help to ensure that the Bill does not forget the underserved and disadvantaged in our society, many of whom have been mentioned already.

Bishop of St Albans asks about money laundering in British overseas territories

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on financial fraud and money laundering in British Overseas territories during a debate on the scale of money laundering in the UK on 13th January 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, in last year’s parliamentary debate on the Church Action for Tax Justice report Tax for the Common Good, the Minister assured us that progress was being made on reducing money laundering and financial fraud in our British Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies. Would he be able to update the House on this? If he cannot do so now, would he please write to me with information on the progress we are making?

Lord Agnew of Oulton (Con, Treasury): It is important to remind the House that the overseas territories are independent entities and that we cannot just force them to comply with our own regulations. But we have an ongoing dialogue with them. For example, we have a very useful exchange of information through the exchange of notes arrangements, and they have agreed to introduce publicly accessible registers of companies’ beneficial ownership. The discussions are very much ongoing and I respect the right reverend Prelate’s concern.

Hansard

Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishops of Gloucester & Derby support updated statutory definition of child criminal exploitation

On 12th January 2022, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The Bishop of Gloucester, on behalf of the Bishop of Derby, spoke in support of an amendment tabled by Lord Rosser which would introduce a new statutory definition of child criminal exploitation:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I speak in place of my right reverend friend the Bishop of Derby, who sadly cannot be here today. She and I support this amendment, to which she has added her name. I declare her interest as vice-chair of the Children’s Society. These are her words.

Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Gloucester supports amendment to review criminal sentencing

On 12th January 2022, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The Bishop of Gloucester spoke in support of an amendment tabled by Lord Marks of Henley on Thames which would establish a royal commission to review criminal sentencing:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I fully support the amendment. Sometimes I feel a bit as if I am in “Groundhog Day” as we listen to things that are said again and again. When we first discussed the Bill in this House, many people far more learned than me commented on all the issues with the Bill and the fact that so much of it is piecemeal—that we are trying to put sticking plasters over things without looking at the issues holistically and without looking at evidence. So much of it seems to be a reaction—often to populist headlines, let us be honest. There is so much evidence that we are not looking at, and so much of what we are discussing is not backed up by the evidence.

Votes: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill

On 10th January 2022, the House of Lords debated the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in the Report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the Bill, in which Bishops took part.

Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Gloucester raises issue of threats to vulnerable women and girls

On 10th January 2022, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The Bishop of Gloucester raised the issue of vulnerable women being caught in “joint enterprise” scenarios involving weapons and given prison sentences, and supported amendments which would address this:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I rise to support in particular Amendments 90H, 90J, 90K and 90L. As has been said, they are critical to ensuring that more vulnerable women are not drawn into the criminal justice system through the de facto joint enterprise element of SVROs. Probably like other noble Lords, I was shocked to read the briefing from Agenda, which states that analysis of

“109 joint enterprise cases involving women and girls”

shows that

“there was not a single case in which women and girls had handled a weapon; in 90% of cases they engaged in no violence at all; and in half of the cases they were not even present at the scene of the crime.”

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