Category: Bills

Legislation before Parliament

Bishop of Birmingham supports Bill to reduce size of the House of Lords

On the 21st October 2016 Conservative Peer Lord Elton introduced the ‘House of Lords Bill’ –  a Private Member’s Bill to reduce the size of the House of Lords. The Bishop of Birmingham, Rt Revd David Urquhart, spoke in support. A number of other Peers made reference to the Lords Spiritual and extracts of their remarks can be found after the Bishop’s speech, below. 

birmingham-211016cThe Lord Bishop of Birmingham: My Lords, I am resisting the temptation to tear up my notes and respond to the noble Lord’s last quote. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Elton, for again bringing before us this important matter. It is widely agreed in many places that as weseek to be effective as a House, the size of the House is of great concern. Of course, as has already been said by the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, recent changes have attempted to alleviate the size of the House—we have adopted retirement provisions—yet they have not been sufficient to alleviate the flow of new Members. The statistics have already been referred to.

From this Bench, the Lords spiritual have spoken consistently over the past few years in support of reform aimed at addressing the size of the House—and we do so again, keeping in mind the aim of the House to improve the core functions of our scrutiny of legislation and government proposals from the other House, and of offering expertise and independence, which have already been referred to. Continue reading “Bishop of Birmingham supports Bill to reduce size of the House of Lords”

Votes – Investigatory Powers Bill

On 19th October 2016 the House of Lords considered the Government’s Investigatory Powers Bill during its Report stage. The Bishop of Chester, Rt Revd Peter Forster, took part in a vote on an amendment tabled by the Liberal Democrats. Introducing the amendment, Lord Paddick said “it seeks to remove internet connection records from the type of communications data that can be acquired in bulk.” Continue reading “Votes – Investigatory Powers Bill”

Investigatory Powers Bill – Bishop of Chester speaks on amendment on bulk retention of internet connection records

On 19th October 2016 the House of Lords considered the Government’s Investigatory Powers Bill at its Report Stage. The Bishop of Chester, Rt Revd Peter Forster, spoke during debate on a Liberal Democrat amendment. Introducing the amendment Lord Paddick said “it seeks to remove internet connection records from the type of communications data that can be acquired in bulk.” 

14.03 Bishop of ChesterThe Lord Bishop of Chester: My Lords, I am sure we do not want to prolong this debate. As I said on Monday, I was a member of the pre-legislative scrutiny group. You might wonder why a Bishop was invited to be part of that exercise, but I think it was because of this point—the ethics of interference with privacy. I am sorry that the discussion so far has almost become too polarised, because the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, is making a serious point, which I demonstrate by quoting David Anderson in his evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights. Continue reading “Investigatory Powers Bill – Bishop of Chester speaks on amendment on bulk retention of internet connection records”

Votes – Children and Social Work Bill

On 18th October 2016 the House of Lords considered the Government’s Children and Social Work Bill at its Report Stage. The Bishops of Chester and Leeds supported an amendment from the Earl Listowel to improve the support available for care leavers. The Bishop of Chester’s speech is here. Continue reading “Votes – Children and Social Work Bill”

Children and Social Work Bill: Bishop of Chester supports amendment to provide assistance to care leavers.

ChesterOn 18th October 2016, the House of Lords considered the Government’s Children and Social Work Bill at its Report Stage. The Bishop of Chester spoke in support of an amendment proposed by the Earl of Listowel aiming to improve support for care leavers.

 

The Lord Bishop of Chester My Lords, I add my strong support for the amendment, which was moved by the noble Earl with a mastery of succinctness and clarity across the issues he covered, backed up by the other noble Lords who spoke. There are powerful arguments for the amendment.

We have just been talking about the importance of relationship education and support. That is exactly what care leavers typically do not have—by definition, if you like. Think of the degree of support that your Lordships have had to give to your children at the age of 19 to 24 and beyond. I see some smiles on your Lordships’ faces, and I could smile myself and put a price tag on it. It does not exactly run into millions of pounds, but it feels like it. Continue reading “Children and Social Work Bill: Bishop of Chester supports amendment to provide assistance to care leavers.”

Votes – Investigatory Powers Bill

On 17th October 2016 the House of Lords considered the Government’s Investigatory Powers Bill at its Report Stage. The Bishop of Chester took part in two votes on amendments to the Bill tabled by the Liberal Democrats on retention of internet records. Continue reading “Votes – Investigatory Powers Bill”

Investigatory Powers Bill: Bishop of Chester speaks on amendment about Internet use monitoring

ChesterOn 17th October 2016, the House of Lords considered the Government’s Investigatory Powers Bill at Report Stage. The Bishop of Chester, Rt Revd Peter Forster, took part in the debate on an amendment from the Liberal Democrat Peer Lord Paddick on the retention of internet connection records. Introducing the amendment, Lord Paddick said: “the effect of Amendment 118A, tabled in my name and that of my noble friend Lady Hamwee, would be to remove internet connection records from any notice requiring the retention of communications data by telecommunications operators.”

The Lord Bishop of Chester: My Lords, I was a member of the Joint Committee conducting pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill, along with the noble Lord, Lord Strasburger—I am not sure whether anyone else in the Chamber was. I remember a discussion which was genuinely open and uncertain about the practicality of this above all. The issue of privacy has been raised very powerfully by the noble Lord, Lord Oates, and others from the Liberal Democrat Benches. Continue reading “Investigatory Powers Bill: Bishop of Chester speaks on amendment about Internet use monitoring”

Division: Investigatory Powers Bill

On 11th October 2016 a vote took place on an Opposition amendment to the Government’s Investigatory Powers Bill, in which three bishops took part. Continue reading “Division: Investigatory Powers Bill”

Second Church Estates Commissioner welcomes Small Charitable Donations and Childcare Payments Bill

Caroline SpelmanOn Tuesday 11th October 2016 the House of Commons debated the Government’s Small Charitable Donations and Childcare Bill at its Second Reading. The Second Church Estates Commissioner, Rt Hon Dame Caroline Spelman MP, spoke in the debate:

Dame Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con): I have to declare an interest, as I am sure will many Members who are present, as a Member of Parliament who has set up a charity. In fact, I have set up two. The fact that, 20 years on, only one still exists shows part of the experience of people who set up charities for good causes, because it is often hard to sustain the funding. The first is a charity that supports people who suffer from substance abuse and it is flourishing, but with the second, which was set up to support the victims of domestic violence, I found it hard to continue to secure funds. That is the nature of charitable work and it will not stop any of us from setting up new charities. Hopefully, the Bill will encourage more of us and our constituents to take such opportunities. Continue reading “Second Church Estates Commissioner welcomes Small Charitable Donations and Childcare Payments Bill”

Bishop of Salisbury welcomes new Carbon Budget Orders

On 19th July 2016 the House of Lords debated the approval of the Government’s draft Carbon Budget Order 2016 and Climate Change Act 2008 (Credit Limit) Order 2016. The Bishop of Salisbury, Rt Revd Nicholas Holtham, spoke in the debate, welcoming the Orders, which were approved by Peers at the conclusion of the debate: 

Bp Salisbury 2The Lord Bishop of Salisbury: My Lords, I welcome both orders and welcome the Minister in her new role with its important responsibilities to further our progress in the care of our common home. I particularly welcome her as somebody who lives in the diocese of Salisbury, and I look forward to working with her in this new context.

The Committee on Climate Change’s Meeting Carbon Budgets—2016 Progress Report to Parliament says that it,

“comes at a critical point in the development of climate policy in the UK … against the backdrop of the Paris Agreement in December last year”.

The political circumstances could not be more significant. I was grateful to the noble Viscount, Lord Ridley, for his eloquent speech in favour of international agreements, which gave me a sense of urgency in relation to the implementation of the Paris agreement. I have taken on a preaching engagement in the autumn, about which I have been feeling some trepidation. It is to preach at the annual service for the Worshipful Company of Fuellers. I am now looking forward to that event and to trying to engage with that group of people on these issues. Continue reading “Bishop of Salisbury welcomes new Carbon Budget Orders”