Category: Questions

Oral & written questions in the Lords and Commons

Bishop of St Albans asks about local government for rural areas

On 11th February 2025, the Bishop of St Albans asked a question on ensuring fairness for rural communities during local government reorganisation:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, to build on that question, there is a lot of concern in rural areas that where they are to be added to a large unitary authority which is dominated by an urban area, they might miss out. What will be put into the criteria to ensure that there is fairness of services in those rural areas?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about role of beavers in restoring chalk streams

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 11th February 2025:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the potential role of beavers in restoring England’s chalk streams.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about 4-day week productivity

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 11th February 2025:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the productivity of businesses where employees work a permanent four-day working week.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about barriers to cancer treatment

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on social, ethnic, and religious barriers preventing those in disadvantaged areas from seeking cancer treatment on 10th February 2025:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, a year ago this very afternoon, this very moment, I was in a surgery having a radical prostatectomy. I pay tribute to Professor Vasdev and his amazing team at Lister Hospital for the exceptional treatment I received. He is one of many fabulous people working in our NHS. The discrepancies, though, of diagnosis and treatment are stark in different parts of the country. Having worked in some of the more disadvantaged areas in the past, I am acutely aware of those. What are His Majesty’s Government’s going to do, as the plan is developed, to ensure that we look at the religious, social and ethnic barriers which are stopping groups coming forward to receive diagnosis and treatment? Will they particularly focus on how we can address these to try to support those in the most disadvantaged parts of our country?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about supply of aid and medical equipment to Gaza

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the issue of supplying aid and medical supplies to hospitals in Gaza on 10th February 2025, following a repeat of a Commons Statement on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: Reports coming out of the country show the desperate need to get not only aid but medical supplies there. I pay tribute to His Majesty’s Government for all that they have done so far, but the issue is how we get aid and medical supplies in. In particular, reports are coming out that the Anglican-run al-Ahli Hospital is in a desperate state. What else can His Majesty’s Government do to ensure that we get medicine and supplies in there and to other medical facilities?

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Bishop of Oxford asks about improving public trust in artificial intelligence

The Bishop of Oxford asked a question on improving and building public trust in AI, during a discussion on introducing legislation for regulation of artificial intelligence on 10th February 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: My Lords, according to the Government’s own recent survey, 43% of the public trust that the impact of AI will be positive, but 33% believe it will be negative. Given this very narrow gap and the critical importance of building trust in embracing new technologies, what specific steps are the Government planning to take to improve that public trust as they embed AI in the nation’s most trusted institutions, not least in the NHS?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about impact of beaver reintroduction

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 7th February 2025:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the introduction of a pair of beavers to the River Glaven in Norfolk in 2022 on (1) water pollution, and (2) flood risk.

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Bishop of Chichester asks about protection of Christian communities in Syria

The Bishop of Chichester asked a question on the need to protect Christian communities in Syria during a discussion on the current transition period in the Syrian government on 6th February 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Chichester: My Lords, Syria is home to some of the oldest and most significant Christian churches in the world, although Christians now number only 2.5% of Syria’s population. Although small in number, they see themselves as an integral part of the people of Syria and its identity. In view of this, will the Minister ensure that policy and statements about Syria robustly identify its Christian communities and history as an important part of its identity and life and in need of special protection, rather than simply being assimilated as Syrians defined as citizens of the state?

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Church Commissioners Written Questions: Tourism, Christianity, Religious Freedom

On 6th February 2025, the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Marsha De Cordova MP, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs:

Churches: Tourism

Blake Stephenson MP (Con, Mid Bedfordshire): To ask the Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to support the tourism industry.

Marsha De Cordova MP (Lab, Battersea): Churches, cathedrals and other historic sites are at the heart of England’s cultural and spiritual heritage, attracting millions of visitors annually.

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Votes: Data (Use and Access) Bill

On 5th February 2025, the House of Lords debated the Data (Use and Access) Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:

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