Category: Bills

Legislation before Parliament

Children and Social Work Bill 2016: Bishop of Durham queries arrangements for personal advisers

Bp Durham June 2015 bOn 6th July 2016 the House of Lords continued to consider the Government’s Children and Social Work Bill in Committee. The Bishop of Durham, Rt Revd Paul Butler, spoke during debate on an amendment from Labour’s Lord Warner on personal advisers. The amendment was withdrawn following debate. The Bishop said:

The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I rise to express not dissimilar concerns to the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth. I firmly support the tenor of what is proposed, but at the same time I go back to Second Reading when the noble Baroness, Lady Hughes, raised the question of foster carers. Some foster carers will rail against the professionalisation of advice. If we believe that there needs to be flexibility in the range of personal advisers, we need to beware of the Bill being so constraining that we lose that flexibility. Continue reading “Children and Social Work Bill 2016: Bishop of Durham queries arrangements for personal advisers”

Children and Social Work Bill 2016: Bishop of Durham sponsors amendment on profit-making in children’s social services

On 6th July 2016 the House of Lords continued to consider the Government’s Children and Social Work Bill in Committee. The Bishop of Durham, Rt Revd Paul Butler, co-sponsored and spoke in support of an amendment on profit-making and children’s social services functions. The amendment was withdrawn following debate. The Bishop said:

Bp Durham June 2015 bThe Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I was pleased to add my name to this amendment and I support the arguments that have been put by the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, and the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley. I want to add that this is about the best interests of the child, and children are the only ones who should profit from anything here. However, I add another concern. When we come to debate Clause 15, and the possibility of exemptions, I am slightly concerned that, if this measure is not in the Bill, such exemptions might be used as a way of circumventing the issue around profit and not for profit. I lend my support to this amendment. Continue reading “Children and Social Work Bill 2016: Bishop of Durham sponsors amendment on profit-making in children’s social services”

Children and Social Work Bill: Bishop of Durham supports amendment on young parents leaving care

On 4th July 2016 the House of Lords considered the Government’s Children and Social Work Bill in Committee. The Bishop of Durham, Rt Revd Paul Butler, spoke in support of an amendment from Labour Peer Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top on young parents who are care leavers. The amendment was withdrawn following debate. The Bishop said:

Bp Durham June 2015 bThe Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I feel that I could already write the Minister’s response by saying that of course these needs are already met in Clause 3(5)(a) or (b), as the subsection refers to meeting “his or her needs”. However, when, year after year, report after report notes that these needs are not dealt with, surely we reach the point where they need to be specified—hence I support the noble Baroness’s amendments. The needs of these young parents have so consistently not been adequately met that we now need to specify them so that they are. Continue reading “Children and Social Work Bill: Bishop of Durham supports amendment on young parents leaving care”

Children and Social Work Bill 2016: Bishop of Durham supports amendment on corporate parenting

On 4th July 2016 the House of Lords considered the Government’s Children and Social Work Bill in Committee. The Bishop of Durham, Rt Revd Paul Butler, spoke in support of an amendment from Labour Peer Lord Warner on corporate parenting. The amendment was withdrawn following debate. The Bishop said:

Bp Durham June 2015 bThe Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I also support this amendment. I apologise for not being here for day one* but at Second Reading I explained that I would not be able to be present last week. At Second Reading, there were a number of clauses—this is one of them—where I was concerned that the work of independent fostering agencies, adoption agencies and the voluntary sector as a whole, which provides increasing support to children in care and leaving care, was hardly noticed. Continue reading “Children and Social Work Bill 2016: Bishop of Durham supports amendment on corporate parenting”

Bishop of Durham welcomes direction of Government’s Children and Social Work Bill

On 14th June 2016 the Bishop of Durham, Rt Revd Paul Butler, spoke during the Second Reading debate on the Government’s Children and Social Work Bill: 

Bp Durham June 2015 bThe Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I am grateful that in the scheduling I find myself following the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, whose passion and commitment to those in care and care leavers is widely known.

In greeting the main thrust of this Bill in my comments on the gracious Speech, I welcomed the measures to strengthen adoption, and also said:

“We need to ensure that life chances for those in residential or foster care are as good as for all other children”.—[Official Report, 19/5/16; col. 41.]

A focus on long-term life outcomes is likely to lead to better decisions in placing children, including non-consensual adoption, but 75% of looked-after children are fostered, and it is no less important for them and for those in other forms of care that their long-term well-being outweighs any other considerations of economy or convenience. It is regrettable that the Bill has not addressed further issues of fostering and kinship care, as other noble Lords have already noted. Continue reading “Bishop of Durham welcomes direction of Government’s Children and Social Work Bill”

Bishop of St Albans’ Bill on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals Introduced to Lords

BettingBill2016On Monday 13th June 2016 the Betting Licences (Category B2 Gaming Machines) Bill [HL] was introduced to the House of Lords and had its formal First Reading.

The Bill “to make provision for licensing authorities to restrict the number of Category B2 gaming machines which may be authorised under a betting premises licence” was introduced by the Bishop of Bristol on behalf of its sponsor the Bishop of St Albans, read a first time and ordered to be printed.

A press release accompanying the First Reading was issued by the Bishop of St Albans and is reproduced below.

Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans’ Bill on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals Introduced to Lords”

Bishop of Derby supports bill on renters’ rights

Bishop of DerbyOn Friday 10th June  2016 the Bishop of Derby, the Rt Revd Alastair Redfern spoke during the debate on Baroness Grender’s Renters’ Rights Bill. The Bishop highlighted his concerns about vulnerable people and malpractice by some rental landlords and property management agencies. 

The Lord Bishop of Derby: My Lords, I too wish to offer some thoughts about the importance of the issues raised by the Bill and the sense of direction in which it seeks to travel.

First, I note the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Palmer, regarding a definition of so-called “rogue” landlords. The Housing and Planning Act has introduced a database of rogue landlords and property agents, which is to be made available to local authorities so that they can check for compliance, but there is a question over whether tenants should have access to that kind of information. Continue reading “Bishop of Derby supports bill on renters’ rights”

Bishop of Derby supports Bill to regulate arms brokers

DerbyOn the 10th June 2016 the Bishop of Derby, Rt Revd Alastair Redfern spoke during the Second Reading debate of Baroness Jolly’s Register of Arms Brokers Bill. The Bishop drew parallels with similar work he had undertaking in the area of  supply chain transparency during the passage of the Modern Slavery Act. 

The Lord Bishop of Derby: My Lords, I rise to support the noble Baroness, Lady Jolly, and to make three simple points about why this such a powerful and necessary case. First, it builds upon existing legislation about licensing and export control, so we have a set of criteria and an assessment process in place so that all companies involved are scrutinised and licensed. We are doing the work that would provide the register. So the principle of identifying and monitoring arms brokers is established.

Continue reading “Bishop of Derby supports Bill to regulate arms brokers”

Divisions – Housing and Planning Bill

On 4th May 2016 a number of votes took place on the Government’s Housing and Planning Bill, as the House of Lords considered amendments made in the House of Commons. Bishops took part in the following Divisions of the House: Continue reading “Divisions – Housing and Planning Bill”

Divisions: Housing and Planning Bill

On 27th April 2016 votes took place on amendments to the Government’s Housing and Planning Bill at its Third Reading. The Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith, took part: Continue reading “Divisions: Housing and Planning Bill”