Category: Questions

Oral & written questions in the Lords and Commons

Bishop of Southwark asks about refugees from Iraq

The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answers on 20th February 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of Iraqi refugees in Jordan that have (1) applied for, and (2) been granted, asylum in the UK since 2014.

Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con): The Home Office publishes data on asylum and resettlement in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release(opens in a new tab)’. Data on the number of asylum applications and initial decisions by nationality are published in table Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 respectively of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets(opens in a new tab). Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to Q3 2022.

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Church Commissioners Written Questions: Meetings with CofE groups, Tackling Antisemitism, Festivals and Special Occasions

Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs on 14th February 2023:

Mr Ben Bradshaw MP (Lab): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what meetings he has held in his capacity as Second Church Estates Commissioner with (a) evangelical groups and (b) groups representing other traditions in the Church of England in the last 12 months.

Andrew Selous MP (Con): In the twelve month period since February 2022 I have met with representatives of the groups listed below. This is in addition to the large number of regular meetings I have held with the National Church Institutions boards, committees and officials, and with individual bishops, Government ministers, officials, and Members of Parliament.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about dual British-Iranian citizens

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

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many people have dual British-Iranian citizenship; and of those, what estimate they have made of the number currently residing in Iran.

Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con): Under UK law, there is no restriction on holding other passports so only the ‘relevant’ nationality to a case is generally captured in a analysable form.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about access to phones and broadband in rural areas

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

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of how many people in rural areas do not have access to (1) landline phones, (2) mobile telephone coverage, (3) wireless coverage, (4) broadband, and (5) satellite internet.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con): Ofcom collects coverage as part of its reporting requirements, most recently in its Connected Nations Report, with data for the period to September 2022.

Ofcom reports that 96% of rural premises have indoor 4G coverage from at least one operator, rising to 99% for outdoor coverage. This equates to c.195,000 rural premises not having 4G indoor coverage, with c.26,500 not having outdoor 4G coverage.

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Bishop of Gloucester asks about increasing the sample size of the Food & You 2 Survey

The Bishop of Gloucester received the following written answer on 8th February 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester asked His Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to expanding the sample size for the Food Standards Agency’s Food and You 2 survey to a minimum of 10,000 households.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about potential security threats posed by DNA testing ancestry companies

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 8th February 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of any security threat posed by the collection of biometric data by direct-to-consumer DNA testing ancestry companies.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The Home Office has made no such assessment.

Hansard

Bishop of St Albans asks about African Swine Fever

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 8th February 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with (1) the EU, and (2) other pork export markets, regarding regionalisation in the event of an African swine fever outbreak in the UK.

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Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham asks about safety in school buildings

The Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham asked a question on support for small and rural schools on 7th February 2023, during a debate on the risk of school buildings collapsing being raised to “critical – very likely” in the Department for Education’s Consolidated annual report and accounts.

The Lord Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham: My Lords, the latest guidance from the DfE on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete requires regular visual surveys of school buildings. In my diocese in Nottinghamshire there are many smaller, mainly rural schools that are unable to employ site managers who can undertake these surveys. They have to rely on head teachers and staff to make the necessary ongoing visual inspections. Can the Minister say what assistance can be provided to the teaching and leadership teams, particularly in smaller schools, where the budget is already under considerable pressure?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about review of the UK pig sector

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 7th February 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of their review into contractual practice in the UK pig sector.

Lord Benyon (Con): A public consultation was conducted between July and October 2022 which invited views from the pig industry about potential improvements to fairness and transparency. The consultation received a very positive level of engagement with responses from individuals and organisations across the supply chain.

The Government will publish a Summary of Responses, outlining main findings and next steps, in the coming months. Any actions arising as a result of the consultation will be developed alongside industry with the close involvement of stakeholders.

Hansard

Bishop of St Albans asks about trade with Somalia

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 7th February 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what is the value of UK direct (1) imports, and (2) exports, to Somalia.

Baroness Penn (Con): HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as a National Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website. From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria.

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