Questions – Page 133 – The Church of England in Parliament

Bishop of St Albans asks about sufficiency of NHS nurses

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the government’s response to large numbers of people leaving nursing on 10th May 2023, during a debate on the sufficiency of the number of nurses in the NHS:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, the Royal College of Nursing has published figures showing that, between 2018 and 2022, 43,000 nurses left the nursing and midwifery register. We have seen this huge leaching of people moving out of nursing. What are His Majesty’s Government doing to listen to why these people are leaving and to see what we can do to retain these people who have been very expensively trained, have huge skills and are part of the reason why we have a shortage?

Bishop of Exeter asks about restoring railways in South West England

The Bishop of Exeter received the following written answers on 10th May 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked His Majesty’s Government how many passengers on the Dartmoor Line used the re-opened Exeter to Okehampton railway in each month for the past year.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con): Below is a table that shows how many passengers on the Dartmoor Line used the re-opened Exeter to Okehampton railway in each rail period from April 2022 onwards.

Bishop of St Albans asks for support for agricultural growers

The Bishop of St Albans asked for assurances to the Lea Valley Growers Association in his diocese that support for their planning would be available going forward, during a debate on the upcoming ban on the sale of horticultural peat on 9th May 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, the Lea Valley in my diocese is an area sometimes known as Britain’s salad bowl. The Lea Valley Growers Association already faces huge problems, mainly because of the increase in energy costs at the moment, and many of these growers are going out of business. Its concern is that some crops are grown in very specialist ways, and some of the alternatives are not working very well. The association wants real guarantees and help to make sure that, where there are not good alternatives, growers have some security for their planning at a time when many of them are not planting anymore. Can the Minister give those assurances?

Bishop of St Albans asks about improving financial education in the UK

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 9th May 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 3 April (HL6647):

what discussions they have had with (1) Barclays LifeSkills, (2) EVERFI, (3) HSBC, (4) Lloyds Banking Group, (5) NatWest MoneySense, (6) Santander Moneywise, and (7) other financial education providers, about improving financial education in the UK.
what steps they are taking to provide financial education for those who leave school early.

Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich asks about reasons for increasing numbers of gambling machines

The Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich asked a question on the rationale behind increasing the number of gambling machines on 3rd May 2023, in response to the government’s proposals on gambling reform:

The Lord Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich: My Lords, I echo the concerns that have been expressed about advertising, particularly the susceptibility of youngsters to it, but I want to raise a different question. Can the Minister explain the rationale for increasing the number of gambling machines, which are already deeply unpopular with local authorities, require more policing due to the antisocial behaviour associated with them, and often, as was said by the previous speaker, are targeted at poorer areas?

Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich asks about training and skills for installation of low carbon technology

The Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich asked a question on training for installation of low carbon technology during a debate on the government’s net-zero strategy on 3rd May 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich: My Lords, as I understand it, one of the barriers to installing new low-carbon technology is the shortage of skilled labour to carry out this work. Can the Minister tell us what plans there are to invest in and expand training and skills programmes for the installation of low-carbon technology such as heat pumps, EV chargers and solar panels?

Bishop of St Albans asks about duty to render assistance at sea for automated ships

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 3rd May 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to uphold the obligation “to render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of being lost” under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea once fully automated ships are brought into service.

Online Safety Bill: Bishop of Gloucester backs amendments to increase safety duties to children

On 2nd May 2023, the House of Lords debated the Online Safety Bill in the fourth day of committee. The Bishop of Gloucester spoke in support of amendments to the bill that would “amend the safety duties to children to consider all harms, not just harmful content”, including amendment 261 in the name of the Bishop of Oxford:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I support the amendments in this group that, with regard to safety by design, will address functionality and harms—whatever exactly we mean by that—as well as child safety duties and codes of practice. The noble Lord, Lord Russell, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Harding and Lady Kidron, have laid things out very clearly, and I wish the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, a happy birthday.

I also support Amendment 261 in the name of my right reverend friend the Bishop of Oxford and supported by the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, and the noble Viscount, Lord Colville. This amendment would allow the Secretary of State to consider safety by design, and not just content, when reviewing the regime.

Bishop of Gloucester questions rhetoric surrounding criminal justice

The Bishop of Gloucester asked a question on the rhetoric used emphasising arrest and imprisonment, rather than rehabilitation, during a debate on the promised uplift in numbers of police on 2nd May 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, it is very good to hear the Minister speak about police uplift. I am certainly not asking for more and more but I am asking for more join-up. I am really concerned about the “we are coming for you” rhetoric being part of the solution, and the sense that if we simply arrest more people and send more people to prison, we will reduce reoffending. There was nothing in the data about the high rate of reoffending. Unless we look at what is going on in our prisons, at how we rehabilitate people and address some of the systemic issues relating to why people offend in the first place, we will not be doing that join-up across the criminal justice system. I am really concerned about the rhetoric whereby, if you arrest more people and lock them up for longer, our streets will be safer; the data simply does not reflect that. Will the Minister say more about the join-up across the whole of the criminal justice system?

Bishop of St Albans asks about safeguarding absent schoolchildren

The Bishop of St Albans asked about potential safeguarding issues for children persistently absent from school, and support for local social services working to identify these children, during a debate on persistent absences on 2nd May 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, this has the potential to be a major safeguarding issue, which many professionals are concerned about. What are His Majesty’s Government doing to help schools work with local social services teams to ensure that we have identified who these children are, that their risk is assessed and that they are given the proper support that they need?

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