Category: Question

Oral & written questions – Lords and Commons

Bishop of Exeter asks about control of avian influenza virus

The Bishop of Exeter received the following written answer on 13th March 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to prevent the spread of the H5N1 virus.

Lord Benyon (Con): Defra’s approach to avian influenza disease control considers the latest scientific and ornithological evidence and veterinary advice and is set out in the Notifiable Avian Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain(opens in a new tab), supported by the Mitigation Strategy for Avian Influenza in Wild Birds in England and Wales(opens in a new tab). Current policy reflects our experience of responding to past outbreaks of exotic animal disease and is in line with international standards of best practice for disease control. In summary swift and humane culling of poultry and other captive birds on infected premises, coupled with rigorous biosecurity, are used to prevent the amplification of avian influenza and minimise the risk of disease spread from infected premises

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Bishop of Exeter asks about support for the horticultural industry

The Bishop of Exeter received the following written answer on 13th March 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked His Majesty’s Government what support they are providing to the horticultural industry to support the growth of fruit and vegetables.

Lord Benyon (Con): An innovative, productive, and competitive agricultural sector is one of HM Government’s key priorities.

Horticultural production was worth £4.8 billion in 2021 and is a vital sector, not only in ensuring the resilience of our food supply chains, but also as a major driver of local economic growth and employment.

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Bishop of Durham asks about Homes for Ukraine scheme

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 10th March 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked His Majesty’s Government when people who arrived in the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme will be able to be re-matched with hosts who offer their homes through the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con): This department is not responsible for the Ukraine Family Scheme route. Details of re-matching for Homes for Ukraine arrivals are available online on gov.uk.

Hansard

Church Commissioners Written Questions: Church Repairs & Maitenance, Rural Areas, and Vandalism of Cemeteries in Jerusalem

Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs on 10th March 2023:

Jerome Mayhew MP (Con): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of local authority grant funding available to parish churches to upgrade their facilities.

Andrew Selous MP (Con): It is the view of the National Church Institutions that Local Authority and Parish Council grant funding is not being made available to parish churches on a consistent basis, due to a lack of clarity in interpretation of existing law, specifically the Local Government Acts 1894, 1972 and the Localism Act 2011.

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Bishop of Exeter asks about fruit and vegetable shortages in UK shops

The Bishop of Exeter received the following written answer on 10th March 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the causes of fruit and vegetable shortages in UK shops.

Lord Benyon (Con): The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response and is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.

Defra is closely monitoring markets and supply chains to explore the factors that have contributed to ongoing supply chain pressures, including requesting weekly data from supermarkets on supplies of the foods affected to ensure we have the latest available data. We know that some supermarkets have applied item limits to a small number of fruit and vegetables due to poor weather affecting the harvest in Spain and North Africa, where a high proportion of produce consumed in UK at this time of year is grown.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about delivery of special educational needs policy

The Bishop of St Albans asked about government support for health, social care, and CAMHS services in response to the announcement of a new special educational needs plan on 9th March 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I too thank His Majesty’s Government for the improvement plan. I commend what they are doing to try to get a much more integrated approach and some of the resources mentioned in the plan. However, I share the concern raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Twycross, about implementation. The stories I pick up from grass-roots situations in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, where I serve, show that there are still some very serious problems, and some children are now being failed immediately.

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Bishop of Exeter asks about poisoning of schoolgirls in Iran

The Bishop of Exeter asked about the potential of a fact finding mission to investigate the possible poisoning of Iranian schoolgirls on 9th March 2023, during a debate on reports that toxic chemical agents had been used against the schoolgirls by Iranian authorities:

The Lord Bishop of Exeter: My Lords, the production and utilisation of chemical warfare in civil and international conflicts is explicitly prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which Iran is a signatory and a participating member. Will His Majesty’s Government commit to using this existing framework to advocate for the creation of a fact-finding mission by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons?

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Church Commissioner Questions: families, marriage, Lichfield, Nigeria

On 9th March 2023 MPs put questions to the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Andrew Selous MP, during his monthly question time in the House of Commons.

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Bishop of Leicester asks about households on pre-payment energy meters

The Bishop of Leicester received the following written answer on 9th March 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester asked His Majesty’s Government what proportion of eligible households on prepayment meters in (1) Leicester, and (2) Leicestershire, have redeemed their Energy Bills Support Scheme vouchers.

Lord Callanan (Con): The Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) for Great Britain publishes transparency data on gov.uk. These show that across October, November and December 2022, 71% of issued vouchers were redeemed in Leicester Local Authority (LA), and 76% in the LAs comprising the rest of Leicestershire. Full breakdown in the table below.

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Bishop of Leicester asks about impact of household support schemes

The Bishop of Leicester received the following written answer on 9th March 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester asked His Majesty’s Government whether they are evaluating the impacts of the various household support schemes delivered by county councils and unitary authorities.

Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con): Local Authorities have the local ties and knowledge, making them best placed to identify and help those most in need. County Councils are expected to work together with District Councils to provide support and to ensure the funding meets its objectives by identifying those most in need.

Authorities provide management information to DWP which has been used for all the various household support schemes to evaluate how successful The Fund has been in providing support to households.

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