Oral & written questions in the Lords and Commons
The Bishop of Chelmsford received the following written answer on 24th October 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford asked His Majesty’s Government whether they plan to include a revision of the definition of affordable housing in the National Planning Policy Framework review.
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The Bishop of St Albans asked about government support for warm hubs on 20th October 2022:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to support the establishment and maintenance of warm hubs in England.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about support for warm hubs”The Bishop of Oxford tabled a question for short debate on 20th October 2022, concerning the pathway to net zero emissions:
The Lord Bishop of Oxford: To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to support behaviour change as part of the pathway to net zero emissions.
My Lords, I appreciate the time given to this debate, despite all that is happening elsewhere in Westminster today. We face many challenging issues as a country and a world, but none is more serious than climate change and the environmental crisis. The context of our debate is the real prospect of global heating of more than 1.5 degrees by the middle of the century, with escalating extreme weather events in the UK and across the world, rising sea levels, devastating fires and floods, significant loss of life and damage to infrastructure, wars over scarce resources, shifting patterns of harvest, an increase in zoonotic disease and a massive displacement of people as large parts of the earth become uninhabitable.
Your Lordships may well have seen the final episode this week of BBC documentary “Frozen Planet II”, detailing the effects of global warming on people and wildlife. The most sinister pictures for me were of the small bubbles of trapped methane being released in great quantities from the permafrost, with devastating consequences for the earth.
Continue reading “Bishop of Oxford asks about government support for behaviour change on the pathway to net-zero”The Archbishop of York asked a question about benefits rising with inflation on 19th October 2022, during a debate following a statement on the economy:
The Lord Archbishop of York: My Lords, I do not pretend to know the ins and outs of exactly where we find ourselves but I serve communities in the north. I think particularly of people I have met recently in Middlesbrough and Hull, where there were great hopes for levelling up. It now seems a distant dream. I recently visited a school where children go in the morning with an empty lunch box for them to fill up with food from the food bank in the playground at the end of the day. The budget for school meals has gone up by 2% yet food inflation has gone up by more than 10%. We need to make tough decisions—I am glad to hear that the triple lock will remain in place—but, on behalf of the communities where I serve, I must ask this: will benefits rise in line with inflation? If not, millions of people will be moved into poverty. Those who recently donated to food banks are now visiting them themselves.
Continue reading “Archbishop of York asks whether benefits will rise with inflation”The Lord Archbishop of York asked a question during a debate on the government’s Rwanda Asylum Partnership on 19th October 2022:
The Lord Archbishop of York: My Lords, the UK’s population, about 67 million, is five times that of Rwanda at about 13 million. Yet Rwanda, which is a country far poorer than us, as has already been pointed out, hosts one refugee for every 90 people whereas the figure here is one refugee for every 500 people. I do not think I can put my hand on my heart and say that the UK is doing its bit in a global crisis. I wonder whether the Minister would like to say what we are going to do to play our part in taking refugees here.
Continue reading “Archbishop of York asks about government’s policy regarding refugees”On 18th October 2022, the Bishop of Oxford asked a question in response the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt’s, speech on the economy:
The Lord Bishop of Oxford: My Lords, I welcome the new Chancellor, many of the measures announced yesterday, and the increased prospect of greater stability. I noticed that in his Statement yesterday he used the phrase “compassionate conservatism” several times. I wonder if the Minister would unpack that phrase a little, particularly on how the Chancellor will navigate to privilege the needs of the very poorest in society, perhaps especially in the outworking of the increase in benefits in line with price inflation, and in looking to see a decrease in the use of foodbanks in the coming years, which has escalated in major ways in the last decade.
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On 18th October 2022, the Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the UK’s ability to support Ukrainian defences following Russia’s use of drones in the ongoing conflict:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, will the Minister give us an update on Russia’s use of drones yesterday, which caused such devastation among civilian populations? Is there any way we can give additional support to Ukraine to shoot these down? Is it not time that we urgently seek an international treaty on the use of drones, for everybody’s sake?
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about UK support for defence in Ukraine”Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answer to a question from an MP on 18th October 2022:
Mark Eastwood MP (Con): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of reported concerns by the Bishop of Norwich, the lead Church of England bishop on environmental issues, on plans by the Church Commissioners to put forward land as potential investment zones.
Continue reading “Church Commissioners Written Answers: Land Use”
The Bishop of London received the following written answer on 17th October 2022:
The Lord Bishop of London asked His Majesty’s Government whether they still intend to publish a white paper on health disparities; and if so, when.
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The Bishop of London asked about the government’s plans to publish a health disparities white paper on 17th October 2022, during a debate on childhood obesity:
The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, the National Food Strategy to tackle obesity, the new tobacco control plan and the health disparities White Paper were key to the Government’s aim to level-up health. The most recent NHS Providers report found that 95% of trust leaders said that the cost of living had either significantly or severely worsened health inequalities in the local area. Given the worsening situation, can the Minister confirm when the health disparities White Paper will be published? If not, can he point to what else the Government are doing to reduce inequalities in health?
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