Category: Questions

Oral & written questions in the Lords and Commons

Bishop of St Albans asks about treatment of Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijan

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 10th December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 25 November (HL4243), what support they are providing to help document and investigate allegations of serious mistreatment of Armenian prisoners of war by the government of Azerbaijan.

Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about treatment of Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijan”

Bishop of St Albans asks about measures to prevent rural crime

The Bishop of St Albans asked the government to provide a timetable for legislation to reduce crimes affecting farmers and rural communities, during a debate on the economic viability of small farms on 9th December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I declare my interest as president of the Rural Coalition. Of course, one of the things that is really affecting the viability of small family farms is rural crime: theft of equipment, fly-tipping and, in particular, hare-coursing. As the Minister knows, we have been trying to bring forward amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which Her Majesty’s Government are resisting. They have the enthusiastic support of the NFU, police from all around the country and Members from every side of this House, so will the Minister tell us the timetable to introduce provisions to try to deal with this very harmful crime?

Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about measures to prevent rural crime”

Bishop of Durham asks about exclusions of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 8th December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government:

  • how many students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities have been informally excluded in the last academic year.
  • what assessment they have made of the report by the National Autistic Society School Report 2021, published on 9 November; in particular, the findings about informal exclusions; and what steps they intend to take in response to ensure that schools do not practice such exclusions.

Baroness Barran (Con): The department does not hold figures on the number of pupils who have been informally excluded from school. Informal exclusions are unlawful and therefore there is no mechanism for recording them.

Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about exclusions of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities”

Bishop of Durham asks about refugees returning to Burundi

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 8th December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government, following the announcement made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on 27 October that 60,000 refugees are voluntarily returning home to Burundi this year, what steps they will take to support (1) the UN, and (2) the refugees’ return, and (3) integration in that country.

Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about refugees returning to Burundi”

Bishop of Durham asks about the UK asylum system

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 8th December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government how many children are currently waiting for a decision on their asylum application and have waited for over six months.

Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con): The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release, which can be found on go.uk. Data on the number of people awaiting a decision on an asylum application are published in table ASY_D03 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’, which can be found attached. Age breakdowns are not available in the published data.

Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about the UK asylum system”

Bishop of Gloucester asks about status of female prisoners

The Bishop of Gloucester received the following written answer on 7th December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester asked Her Majesty’s Government how many women in prison aged (1) 18 to 24, or (2) 25 or older, are currently sharing a cell.

Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con): On 19th November, the population of the women’s prison estate was 3,236.

Continue reading “Bishop of Gloucester asks about status of female prisoners”

Bishop of Durham asks about cases of missing child refugees

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 7th December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government:

  • how many missing persons cases of child refugees have been issued in 2021.
  • what records they keep of the number of child refugees who go missing in the UK.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Safeguarding procedures are in place to ensure children in temporary accommodation are safe and supported until a permanent place can be found with a local authority.

Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about cases of missing child refugees”

Bishop of St Albans asks about age verification for social media advertisement

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the need for age verification on social media advertisement on 6th December 2021, during a debate on the effects of gambling on young people:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I declare my interest as a vice-chair of Peers for Gambling Reform. As the noble Lord, Lord Foster, has already mentioned, 60,000-plus young people are diagnosed as suffering from gambling-related harm in this country. What consideration have Her Majesty’s Government given to ensuring, perhaps under the online harms Bill, that social media companies will provide an opt-in age-verification tool so that we can provide additional protections for our young people to protect them from these adverts?

Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about age verification for social media advertisement”

Bishop of Gloucester asks about conditions for prisoners, especially those with dependent children

The Bishop of Gloucester received the following written answer on 6th December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester asked Her Majesty’s Government how many women in prison aged (1) 18 to 24, or (2) 25 years or older, have dependent children.

Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con): We do not hold current figures on how many women in prison aged (1) 18 to 24 or (2) 25 years or older have dependent children. Information on a prisoner’s caring responsibilities and their children living in the community is currently monitored locally by prison Governors/Directors to ensure appropriate support can be provided to offenders and their families. We are making changes to the questions within the Basic Custody Screening Tool (BCST) in the first quarter of 2022 and, once this has been done, we will be able to collect primary carer data via the BCST and access this information centrally. Consideration will then be given to how and what we can publish.

Continue reading “Bishop of Gloucester asks about conditions for prisoners, especially those with dependent children”

Church Commissioners Written Answers: Religious Freedom and Support for Education

On 3rd December 2021, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from an MP:

Religious Freedom

Jim Shannon MP (DUP, Strangford): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what assessment the Church has made of where persecution of religion and belief is most concerning.

Continue reading “Church Commissioners Written Answers: Religious Freedom and Support for Education”