On 26th January 2016 Baroness Lister of Burtersett asked Her Majesty’s Government “what impact the Family Test has had on policy-making”. The Bishop of Worcester, Rt Revd John Inge, asked a follow up question:
The Lord Bishop of Worcester: My Lords, I have not consulted their Graces the most reverend Primates the Archbishops, but I feel confident in saying that we on these Benches welcome the thrust of the life-chances strategy, which the Prime Minister outlined in a recent speech. We believe, as does the Prime Minister, that the family is the best anti-poverty measure ever invented—invented by God, in fact, although the Prime Minister did not add that. The increase in funding for relationship support is welcome, but could the Minister indicate how the priorities articulated in the family test might shape the development of the life-chances strategy as it is published and implemented in due course? Continue reading “Bishop of Worcester asks how Government’s family test will shape its life chances strategy”
On 25th January 2016, the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler, responded to a statement in the House of Lords regarding the plight of unaccompanied refugee minors.
On the 25th January, Baroness Royall of Blasidon asked the government “what assessment they have made of the social and environmental impacts of the potential extraction of coal-bed methane on forests such as the Forest of Dean.” The Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Alan Smith, asked a follow up question.
On the 18th January, the Rt Revd Alan Smith, Bishop of St Albans, received written answers to questions about the incidence of forced and underage marriage in the UK and abroad.
The Lord Bishop of Peterborough: My Lords, I speak as one who, until very recently, has been privileged to serve as a trustee of the Farming Community Network, which supports many farmers with difficulties of this sort. Is the Minister aware, as FCN certainly is, that many of those who have been told they will not receive their payments until after the end of this month—more than two months late—are farming in upland areas, not just common grazing, and are often the poorest farmers in the most need? Is it possible for at least some payment to be made on account? Can the Government assure noble Lords that payments will be made on time, and in full, in the next cycle?
On the 19th January 2016 the Second Church Estates Commissioner, the Rt Hon Caroline Spelman MP answered a written question relating to the Church Commissioners’ property developments in Peterborough.
On the 18th January 2016 Baroness Butler-Sloss asked the Government, on behalf of Lord Harries of Pentregarth, “what is their response to the report of the Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life Living with Difference published on 7 December”. Rt Revd Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham, asked a supplementary question. 
Mrs Caroline Spelman: The Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund grants are distributed by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, on behalf of the Government. There has been one round of grants to date, announced in March 2015,
The Church of England in Parliament 
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