Category: Questions

Oral & written questions in the Lords and Commons

Bishop of Winchester asks about cuts to overseas aid

The Bishop of Winchester asked a question on the impact of cuts to the overseas aid budget on COVID-19 vaccine distribution on 16th March 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Winchester: My Lords, is the Minister aware that, if the cuts to the overseas aid budget lead to cuts to the Voluntary Service Overseas programme, they will negatively impact the international distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, given the involvement of VSO in Covid-19 response programmes in different parts of the world, such as Covid safety training for healthcare workers and rural populations in Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, et cetera?

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Bishop of Winchester asks about support for community efforts to cut carbon emissions

The Bishop of Winchester asked a question on support for communities to reduce carbon emissions on 16th March 2021, during a discussion on the Climate Change Committee’s Carbon Budget Report.

The Lord Bishop of Winchester [V]: My Lords, at local and national levels, in communities across the country, the Church of England is committed to reducing net carbon emissions to zero by 2030. Can the Minister say a bit more about the plans Her Majesty’s Government have to offer practical support for local communities already committed to transformation, using new, low-carbon technologies to achieve net-zero emissions?

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Bishop of London asks about potential health inequalities in Patient Choice Schemes

The Bishop of London received the following written answer on 16th March 2021:

The Lord Bishop of London asked Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Patient Initiated Follow Up does not create barriers for deprived and excluded patients to access NHS care.

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Bishop of Southwark asks about human rights considerations in trade agreements

The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 16th March 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have, if any, to include human rights provisions in any future trade agreement between the UK and the Philippines.

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Domestic Abuse Bill: Bishop of London speaks in favour of amendment on protection for migrant women

The Bishop of London spoke in favour of an amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill focused on protections for migrant women reporting domestic abuse on 15th March 2021:

The Lord Bishop of London [V]: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, for her work on this amendment. It is also a pleasure to follow the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss.

Amendment 67, to which I give my support, speaks to an underlying issue with several amendments that concern migrant women: namely, the balance between the Home Office’s commitment to immigration enforcement and the support of victims, which is too often weighted too heavily towards the former. From my own work exploring how varying circumstances, such as migration, affect one’s health outcomes, I hear far too often of victims of crime too nervous to come forward to the police for fear that, rather than receiving the help and support that they need, they will instead find themselves indefinitely detained, split from children and families and deported. The result is that they simply do not come forward, for fear is weaponised by abusers to prevent their victims escaping. This is all too common.

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Bishop of Gloucester asks about facilitation of contact with children for mothers in prison

The Bishop of Gloucester asked a question on the need to support contact between mothers and children on 15th March 2021, during a discussion on the issue of self-harm among women in prison:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, as has been said, anxiety is considerable for mothers in prison. The Visiting Mum scheme in HMP Eastwood Park found that the incidence of self-harm reduced when women had regular support contact with their children. What are the Government doing to ensure that motherhood is properly highlighted in pre-sentencing reports and that prison sentences are not used for mothers when a community-based intervention would be appropriate—as just highlighted by the Minister himself?

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Bishop of Bristol asks about EU Settlement Scheme

The Bishop of Bristol received the following written answer on 15th March 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Bristol asked Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office on 7 October 2020 (96911), what further plans they have to publish guidance on what constitutes reasonable grounds for missing the deadline for the EU Settlement Scheme.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about gambling rehabilitation

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 15th March 2021:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to include consideration of issues relating to gambling harm in the professional sports community in the development of the cross-Government addiction strategy.

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Church Commissioners Questions: Land

On 12th March 2021, the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Andrew Selous MP, gave the following written answer to a question from an MP:

Church of England: Land

Jim Shannon MP (DUP, Strangford): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the church is taking to encourage (a) regenerative agriculture, (b) more treeplanting and (c) good stewardship of hedgerows across its rural estates.

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Church Commissioners Written Questions: Church Land, Religious Freedom, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Remote Education

On 11th March 2021, the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Andrew Selous MP, gave the following written answers to questions from an MP:

Church Land

Jim Shannon MP (DUP, Strangford): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the church is taking to provide affordable, sustainable and beautiful housing on land it owns.

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