Category: Bills

Legislation before Parliament

Bishop of Portsmouth supports National Citizen Service Bill

portsmouth241016On 25th October 2016, the Government’s National Citizen Service Bill was debated at Second Reading in the House of Lords. The Bishop of Portsmouth, Rt Revd Christopher Foster, supported the Bill, and talked about the desirability of widening access to the National Citizen Service.

The Lord Bishop of Portsmouth My Lords, I too welcome and support this Bill, not only because of the impact, actual and potential, on building the confidence and contribution of participants but also for its intention to both formalise and improve the accountability and functioning of the NCS. It may seem obvious for us to support a scheme with such clear aims to encourage young people to engage with their communities and take responsibility for their transformation, and one that claims some positive impact on community cohesion.
Continue reading “Bishop of Portsmouth supports National Citizen Service Bill”

Votes: Bus Services Bill

On 24th October 2016 the House of Lords debated the Government’s Bus Services Bill at its Report Stage. The Bishop of Bristol, Rt Revd Mike Hill, took part in a vote on an amendment to the Bill tabled by Labour Peer Lord Kennedy of Southwark to remove Clause 21 , which sought to prohibit local authorities from forming companies to provide local bus services. Continue reading “Votes: Bus Services Bill”

Bishop of Bristol supports Abortion (Disability Equality) Bill

“Not only children but adolescents and adults with Down’s syndrome live valued and valuable lives, contributing greatly to the welfare of those around them. All of this is undermined by the continued existence on our statute book of a law that, in effect, states that Down’s syndrome is a ground for abortion.” – Bishop of Bristol, 21/10/16

Bristol160226 cOn the 21st October 2016 Conservative Peer Lord Shinkwin led a debate on the Second Reading of his Abortion (Disability Equality) Bill. The Bishop of Bristol, Rt Revd Mike Hill, spoke in support of the Bill.

The Lord Bishop of Bristol: My Lords, I too am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Shinkwin, for introducing this Bill. I understand that its focus is the principle of disability equality, not some underhand attempt to limit women’s access to abortion services. Noble Lords will, of course, have a variety of opinions on the ethics of abortion, but that is not, in principle, the focus of the Bill. It needs to be said that, in general, historically and indeed today, churches and other faith groups have always maintained a cautious approach to how the rights of women and the rights of the unborn child can somehow be maintained without, we hope, falling in to those who reside at the extremes of arguments around ethics on both sides of this debate. Continue reading “Bishop of Bristol supports Abortion (Disability Equality) Bill”

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”