Category: Bills

Legislation before Parliament

Welfare Reform Bill: Bishop of Southwark supports amendment to exempt kinship carers from benefit cap reduction

Southwark 2On 21st December 2015 the Bishop of Southwark, the Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, spoke in favour of amendment 90B during the fourth day of committee stage of the Government’s Welfare Reform and Work Bill. This amendment sought to exempt kinship carers from the impact of the reduced benefit cap.

The Lord Bishop of Southwark: My Lords, I rise to express my support for the intention behind the amendment in the name of the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, which makes both sound social and economic sense. If a child can be cared for within the family network, and that is not to be parents or step-parents, that is in most cases preferable for the emotional, physical and spiritual well-being of the child. Churches have watched and participated for centuries in the patterns of such relationships and know that while they can hide dangers, they provide in the main the best setting for the formation of life. Better that than the anxiety, grief and hardship that the imposition of benefit rules not designed for such scenarios imposes, and that a proportion of such children be an economic charge on local authorities and reap the emotional deficit that will all too often occur. Continue reading “Welfare Reform Bill: Bishop of Southwark supports amendment to exempt kinship carers from benefit cap reduction”

Welfare Reform and Work Bill: Bishop of Durham supports amendments on benefit cap and rate freezes

On 21st December 2015 the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler, spoke in favour of six amendments to the Government’s Welfare Reform and Work Bill, during the fourth day of its committee stage.

Durham171115The Bishop spoke to amendments 93 and 94, which would introduce considerations for the safeguarding of children and the welfare of the disabled into any statutory review of the benefit cap; to amendments 95, 100 and 102, which would block the proposed benefits freeze; and to amendment 101 (on behalf of the Bishop of St Albans), which would protect ESA Support Group claimants from the impact of the freeze to the basic ESA rate. Continue reading “Welfare Reform and Work Bill: Bishop of Durham supports amendments on benefit cap and rate freezes”

Marriage Registration Bill introduced by Caroline Spelman MP

Caroline SpelmanOn 17th December 2015 the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Rt Hon Caroline Spelman MP, introduced the Marriage Registration Bill (a Private Member’s Bill) into the House of Commons. The Bill was co-sponsored by Caroline Lucas (Green), Victoria Prentis (Con), Julian Knight (Con), Frank Field (Lab), Christina Rees (Lab) and Huw Irranca Davies (Lab).

The Bill would reform the way all marriages are registered in the UK, bringing the process into the digital age and updating those who can be registered on a marriage certificate, allowing mothers’ names to appear. The bill can be read here

The presentation of the Bill follows a parliamentary debate on the subject led recently by Caroline Spelman.

Continue reading “Marriage Registration Bill introduced by Caroline Spelman MP”

Divisions – Education and Adoption Bill

On 16th December 2015 votes were held on amendments to the Government’s Education and Adoption Bill at its Report stage in the House of Lords. Several bishops took part in the votes: Continue reading “Divisions – Education and Adoption Bill”

Education and Adoption Bill – Bishop of Ely welcomes Government assurances on church school ethos and academy conversion

On 16th December 2015 the House of Lords considered the Government’s Education and Adoption Bill at Report Stage. Ther Bishop of Ely, Rt Revd Stephen Conway, spoke during debate on amendments to clause 7 of the Bill on the Secretary of State’s duty to make Academy orders where a school is judged to be failing. The Bishop supported the Government’s position.

14.10.16 Bishop of Ely 2The Lord Bishop of Ely: My Lords, I am very keen to support the idea of effective communication with our parents, not least about the ethos and character of schools, given that they have a deep effect. We see in the good key stage 2 results this last year the impact of character and ethos on effective academic results. Our parents are really keen to ensure that in any change of school, its ethos and character are maintained and that that is effectively communicated to them by any academy proprietor.

I had submitted my own amendment, which I have now withdrawn because I am content, following conversation with the Minister, that he agrees that ethos and character can be maintained and should be safeguarded effectively. I understand that parents around the country want, of course, to have even more say in what happens, but consider that church schools, in particular, have something significant to offer in relation not only to academic performance and ethos but future guarantees of religious literacy in the way in which our country is served. Continue reading “Education and Adoption Bill – Bishop of Ely welcomes Government assurances on church school ethos and academy conversion”

Welfare Reform Bill: Bishop of Durham supports amendments on reporting on apprenticeships

On 14th December 2015 the House of Lords considered the Government’s Welfare Reform and Work Bill in its third day of Committee. 

The Bishop of Durham, Rt Revd Paul Butler, spoke in support of amendments that would require the government to provide a more thorough reporting on the take-up of apprenticeships. The amendments were withdrawn after debate.

14.06.10 Bishop of Durham 5The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, in the north-east I get to see apprentices in the car industry, the subsea industry, traditional industries such as stonemasonry, farming, and all kinds of sectors in schools. It is brilliant to be able to see them face to face, to meet them and talk to them. There are brilliant apprenticeships and we need to grow them. Therefore, the 3 million target is fantastic, but I have to say that where the Bill refers to,

“information about the progress made in the reporting period towards the apprenticeships target”,

which is simply the figure of 3 million, that does not give the information about the types of apprenticeship that there are. Continue reading “Welfare Reform Bill: Bishop of Durham supports amendments on reporting on apprenticeships”

Welfare Reform Bill: Bishop of St Albans supports amendments on reporting of disability employment gap

On 14th December 2015 the House of Lords considered the Government’s Welfare Reform and Work Bill in its third day of Committee. 

The Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith spoke in support of two amendments that would require the government to report annually on progress towards halving the disability employment gap. The amendments were withdrawn after the debate.

StAlbans171115The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I rise briefly to support Amendment 65 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Manzoor, and Amendment 67 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell of Surbiton, which would legislate for a disability employment gap reporting obligation. Continue reading “Welfare Reform Bill: Bishop of St Albans supports amendments on reporting of disability employment gap”

Divisions – European Union Referendum Bill

On 14th December 2015 the House of Lords considered the House of Commons’ reasons for rejecting Lords amendments to the Government’s European Union Referendum Bill on extending the vote to 16 and 17 year olds. Peers voted on a new amendment from the Opposition, which sought to reinstate the lower voting age in the European referendum. The Bishop of Chester, Rt Revd Peter Forster, took part. Continue reading “Divisions – European Union Referendum Bill”

Online Safety Bill – Bishop of Bristol supports aims and amendments

On 11th December 2015 the House of Lords considered in Committee the Online Safety Bill which had been tabled by Baroness Howe. The Bishop of Bristol, Rt Revd Mike Hill supported the Bill and spoke favourably to an amendment, later withdrawn, by Lord Morrow on filtering of adult content and age verification policies. 

Bishop of Bristol June 2015The Lord Bishop of Bristol: My Lords, I do not want to add too much to the way that the noble Lord, Lord Morrow, has framed his amendment today, but his point is worthy of serious scrutiny, simply because children living in households that are not serviced by the big four ISPs surely require the same level of protection as those in homes whose services are provided by the big four ISPs. Everyone in your Lordships’ House agrees that every child matters; I think that it is not at all controversial to say that.

It is a little confusing that the Prime Minister should seem so robust in his statement in the other place on 28 October, suggesting that the Government wanted to introduce legislation, yet the Minister—unless I misunderstand her—seems very happy to continue with a kind of voluntary regulation. I am not quite sure how that squares up. The point—and the noble Lord, Lord Morrow, makes it well—is that whatever we come up with cannot apply only to some children; surely it must apply to them all. Continue reading “Online Safety Bill – Bishop of Bristol supports aims and amendments”

Welfare Reform Bill – Bishop of Durham supports amendments about parents of young children

On 9th December 2015 the House of Lords considered the Government’s Welfare Reform and Work Bill in its second day of Committee. 

The Bishop of Durham, Rt Revd Paul Butler, spoke in support of a group of amendments to clause 15 of the Bill, concerned with work-related requirements and Universal credit. The amendments, which were withdrawn after the debate, sought to make the work-related requirements in legislation take into account particular circumstances of parents with young children or those with disabilities.

Bp Durham June 2015 b

The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I encourage the Minister to at least agree to go away and think very seriously about these amendments. The paramountcy of the welfare of the child, I am sure, we are all entirely agreed about. We know that the first two years of life are absolutely crucial to long-term life chances. The next two years matter as much again. So how we behave towards children in the first four or five years of life, before they go to school, is the most significant factor in their long-term life chances.

Continue reading “Welfare Reform Bill – Bishop of Durham supports amendments about parents of young children”