The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 13th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support farmers who suffer from livestock worrying.
Lord Benyon (Con): The Government takes the issue of livestock worrying very seriously, recognising the distress this can cause farmers and animals, as well as the financial implications.
During a committee debate on the Illegal Migration Bill on 12th June 2023, the Bishop of Durham raised a point of clarification to Lord Murray of Blidworth (the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Migration & Borders), on the use of remote methods such as video-conferencing to conduct immigration procedures, asking whether such methods were as effective as in person interviewing and interventions:
Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con, Home Office): Amendment 90, spoken to by my noble friends Lord Randall and Lord McColl, relates to the presumption that it is not necessary for a person to remain in the UK to co-operate with an investigation. It is one of the enduring legacies of the Covid pandemic that much more can now be done remotely. We all see this in the changes to the way we work. Even now, some Members of your Lordships’ House take part in debates by videolink. It is simply no longer the case that a victim of crime needs to be in face-to-face contact with police or others to assist with an investigation. There is no reason why, in the majority of cases, such co-operation cannot continue by email, messaging and videoconferencing. The presumption in Clause 21(5) is therefore perfectly proper.
(…)
The Lord Bishop of Durham: Sorry—it has taken me a little while to contemplate but is the Minister effectively saying that the use of video and email and so on is as good as in-person interviewing and in-person interventions? I really think that needs to be rethought.
The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 12th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked His Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Statement by the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on 3 November 2022 (HCWS354), what progress they have made, and what steps they still plan to take, to resolve outstanding issues in relation to the exercise of sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory/Chagos Archipelago, including those relating to the return of former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago.
The Bishop of Leeds asked a question on teaching controversial topics and conflicting opinions in schools during a debate on updates to the national curriculum:
The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, does the Minister agree that resilience is not something primarily that is taught? It is something that develops as you take what is thrown at you in the experiences of life. To that end, is any thinking going on in government about future curricula which allow for children in our schools, particularly secondary schools, to be exposed to opinions and things with which they do not agree in order that they are able to live in a world of conflicting dogmas and opinions, and do not have to run away from them?
On 8th June 2023, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs:
Clergy: Ordination and Retirement
Damien Moore MP (Con, Southport): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the Commissioners are taking steps to reduce average lengths of time between (a) the retirement and enthronement of bishops in dioceses and (b) the retirement and consecration of priests in parishes.
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 7th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many cases of whistleblowing were (1) reported, and (2) investigated, by the Civil Service in (a) 2020 (b) 2021, (c) 2022, and (d) 2023.
Baroness Neville Rolfe (Con): I refer the Noble Lord to my answer HL7792 on 25th May.
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 6th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the status of journalists, particularly women journalists, in Sudan and South Sudan.
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con): In April 2023, the UK led the mandate renewal for the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan (CHRSS) at the UN Human Rights Council. The Commission reported that journalists in South Sudan experience severe harassment, including arbitrary detention and death threats, with some going into hiding or fleeing the country. In South Sudan, the UK consistently raises the importance of media freedom with the Government of South Sudan and funded a project with the Female Journalists Network to enhance media literacy skills among civil society women leaders and improve the technical ability of female journalists.
The Bishop of Southwell & Nottingham received the following written answer on 6th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Southwell & Nottingham asked His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to identify bereaved children in official statistics for the purposes of meeting their needs.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con): The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Bishop of Exeter received the following written answer on 6th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked His Majesty’s Government:
how many acres of agricultural land which were previously being farmed were given over to solar farms in (1) 2018, (2) 2019, (3) 2020, (4) 2021, and (5) 2022.
what assessment they have made of the impact on UK food security of giving over farm land to solar farms.
Lord Benyon (Con): Defra has previously published statistics for the amounts of land changing use during individual years from 2013 to 14 through to 2017 to 2018. The Department intends to provisionally publish similar figures for the three year period 2019 to 2022 using a revised methodology during June or July 2023, however, the figures are not detailed enough to provide the information requested.
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 5th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Somalia about the prevention of famine in that country; and what future engagements they have scheduled.
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con): In 2022 the collective efforts of humanitarian partners and donors, including the UK, averted famine in Somalia. Despite the reduced famine risk, humanitarian needs remain extraordinary.
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