Oral & written questions in the Lords and Commons
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 16th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what exemptions will there be to the general ban on the sale of peat and peat-containing products in the retail horticultural sector from 2024.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about exemptions from ban on sale of horticultural peat”On 15th June 2023 MPs put questions to Andrew Selous MP, Second Church Estates Commissioner, in the House of Commons:
Church Choirs: Engagement with Local Schools
Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con): What steps the Church of England is taking to encourage church choirs to engage with local schools. (905370)
The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Andrew Selous): The Church of England has enthusiastically supported the Government’s Sing Up programme, encouraging local music hubs to partner with churches, and enabling the use of skills and knowledge that schools would otherwise have to buy in. I am sure that my right hon. Friend, as a strong supporter of singing in church, will very much approve.
Continue reading “Church Commissioner Questions: choirs, clergy, rural parishes, families”The Bishop of Durham asked a question on diversion of food aid and use of international organisations to deliver aid during a debate on protecting the integrity of UK food aid to Ethiopia on 14th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, it happens time and again that Governments start diverting food aid and other aid away from the people who need it on the ground, and time and again we have learned that international organisations such as Christian Aid and the Red Cross, and local faith communities from all faiths, are often the very best at delivering aid and making sure it gets to the people most in need. Can the Minister tell us what is being done to try to get around the Ethiopian Government and use those organisations?
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about food aid to Ethiopia”The Bishop of Leicester received the following written answer on 14th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Leicester asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the value of the Inter-Faith Network, and (2) the risks of withdrawing funding from the Network.
Continue reading “Bishop of Leicester asks about the UK Inter-Faith Network”On 13th June 2023, the Bishop of Durham tabled a question on the government’s assessment of the report of the Archbishops’ Commission on Families and Households, and any steps they planned to take in response to the report’s findings:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report of the Archbishops’ Commission on Families and Households, ‘Love Matters’, published on 26 April; and what steps they plan to take in response to its findings.
Baroness Barran (Con, Department for Education): My Lords, I thank all members of the Archbishops’ Commission on Families and Households for their report, which underlines the importance of love in family life. This has particular importance for those children with a disrupted family life, hence the focus in our recent strategy for children in the social care system, Stable Homes, Built on Love. We will consider the report’s recommendations alongside the Government’s response to the Office of the Children’s Commissioner Family Review.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about government’s response to Archbishops’ Commission On Families & Households”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.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about government support for farms affected by animal attacks on livestock”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.
Continue reading “Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Durham requests clarification on use of digital methods such as video conferencing in immigration procedures”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.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about progress of negotiations over the future of the Chagos Islands”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?
Continue reading “Bishop of Leeds asks about building resilience in education”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.
Continue reading “Church Commissioners Written Answers: Clergy Ordination & Retirement, Clergy Vacancies, Leicestershire, Church Security, and Energy Cost Grants”
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