Category: Questions

Oral & written questions in the Lords and Commons

Bishop of St Albans asks about Air Quality Grant Scheme

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 2nd September 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: His Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Douglas-Miller on 24 May (HL4084), whether they will consider reinstating funding for the Air Quality Grant Scheme and, if not, what plans they have to better deliver positive outcomes for local air quality and public health.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab, DEFRA): No decisions have been made yet on the future of the Air Quality Grant.

Hansard

Bishop of Southwark asks about government approach to carer’s allowance

The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answers on 2nd September 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report, Carer’s Allowance Overpayments, published by Carer’s UK on 26 July.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about rates of alcoholism in the UK

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 2nd September 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government:

  • how many clinical diagnoses of alcoholism there were for men in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.
  • how many clinical diagnoses of alcoholism there were for persons aged 10–19 in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.
  •  how many clinical diagnoses of alcoholism there have been for young people aged 20–24 in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.
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Bishop of Gloucester responds to government statement on prison capacity

The Bishop of Gloucester asked a question following a government statement on prison capacity on 24th July 2024, welcoming Lord Timpson to his role as Prisons Minister and querying how the government planned to change the public perception of prisons to encourage change:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I too welcome the noble Lord, Lord Timpson—someone so brilliantly equipped for the task. I welcome this Statement and all the good sense contained in it as we lift this immediate crisis. I am all for new prison places, as long as they are not in addition to all the crumbling prison places. It was wonderful to hear him offer assurance that increased prison capacity will not become the main aim but rather, if I heard correctly, that we will have the courage to look at a whole-systems approach in a solution-focused way.

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Bishop of Manchester asks about issue of holiday hunger for children

The Bishop of Manchester asked a question on the governments plans to tackle holiday hunger for children on 24th July 2024, raising the example of church projects offering support to children and families in school holidays:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: Something like seven out of every eight local authorities now use this money to alleviate holiday hunger among our children. Can we have any hope that the Government will look at a more strategic way of helping children cope with hunger during the school holidays? Many of the churches in my diocese, and those of my right reverend friends here, are having to put on voluntary projects to support children during those periods. What can we hope for?

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Archbishop of Canterbury asks about measures to ensure financial stability of water companies

On 23rd July 2024, the Archbishop of Canterbury asked a question on over-return to shareholders in water companies and whether the government plans to put in place measures to prevent this, during a discussion on the financial resilience of England’s water industry:

The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: I join in congratulating the noble Baroness on her appointment. Picking up on the previous question, which is very much the point, is it not true that the shareholders of Thames Water and others have made extraordinary returns by financial engineering, well in excess of what one would expect to make from a utility, which should be low risk and low reward? In looking at the future structure, will the Government put in place measures to prevent the over-return to shareholders by means of financial engineering, and limit the upside so that utilities are run basically for their customers and not simply for the short-term gain of those who have them?

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Bishop of Leeds asks about plans to improve the transport network in the North of England

The Bishop of Leeds asked a question on plans to revitalise the transport network in the North of England on 23rd July 2024, particularly regarding rail connectivity:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, one of the mysteries of HS2 was that you could get to places like Leeds 16 minutes quicker, but you could not get anywhere else when you got there because of deficiencies in the northern network. What confidence can we have that any other plans that come forward will be realised and improve the situation in the north?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about number of women rough sleeping in England

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 24th May 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many women in England were rough sleeping in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con, DLUHC): The annual Rough Sleeping Snapshot(opens in a new tab) includes the number of women estimated to be sleeping rough in England on a single night in autumn between 2019 and 2023.

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Bishop of Lichfield asks about faith literacy in public institutions

The Bishop of Lichfield received the following written answer on 24th May 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Lichfield asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve the faith literacy of those on the public payroll, including (1) civil servants, (2) the police, (3) NHS staff, and (4) HM Prison and Probation Service staff.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about protection of use of cash in purchasing everyday goods and services

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 24th May 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to protect the use of cash in the purchasing of everyday goods and services.

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