Oral & written questions in the Lords and Commons
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 16th May 2024:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked his Majesty’s Government:
The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 15th May 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government whether they intend to resume funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), following the publication of the Independent Review of Mechanisms and Procedures to Ensure Adherence by UNRWA to the Humanitarian Principle of Neutrality on 22 April.
Continue reading “Bishop of Southwark asks about funding for United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)”
The Bishop of Leeds received the following written answer on 15th May 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Leeds asked His Majesty’s Government what diplomatic action they are taking, along with international partners, to secure a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Sudan; and what consideration they have given to appointing a dedicated envoy for Sudan.
Continue reading “Bishop of Leeds asks about diplomatic efforts to secure a resolution to the conflict in Sudan”
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 15th May 2024:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government:
Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con, DLUHC): The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2024-25 makes available up to £64.7 billion, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £4.5 billion or 7.5% in cash terms on 2023-24. This above-inflation increase demonstrates how the Government stands behind councils up and down the country. Furthermore, we recognise the importance and difficulties of councils serving dispersed populations. That is why we have increased the value of the Rural Services Delivery Grant by over 15%, from £95 million to £110 million in 2024-25. This is the highest increase since 2018-19, and the second successive year of above-inflation increases.
We last calculated the Settlement Funding Assessment in 2013/14. The Government is committed to reforming the local government funding landscape in the next Parliament to deliver simpler, fairer and longer settlements.
The Rural Services Delivery Grant is allocated to local authorities ranking in the top-quartile of sparsely populated areas in England, using the Government’s ‘Super Sparsity’ measure. The methodology is unchanged from 2023-24 and any funding decisions beyond the 2024-25 financial year are a matter for the next Spending Review.
The Bishop of Newcastle received the following written answer on 15th May 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Newcastle asked His Majesty’s Government:
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 15th May 2024:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of low rates of breastfeeding on incidences of breast cancer.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about impact of low rates of breast-feeding on breast cancer”The Bishop of Leeds received the following written answers on 14th May 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Leeds asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support members of the Sudanese diaspora in the UK.
Lord Benyon (Con, FCDO): The FCDO maintains a relationship with, and supports, the Sudanese diaspora in the UK, including through engagement with them at events and at the monthly meeting between the FCDO and the APPG for Sudan and South Sudan.
Continue reading “Bishop of Leeds asks about conflict in Sudan and support for Sudanese diaspora”The Bishop of Manchester asked a question on the issue of advanced release dates preventing prisoners from completing qualifications begun whilst in prison, during a discussion on the End of Custody Supervised Licence Scheme on 13th May 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I declare that I am a trustee of the Clink Charity: we are involved with training people in prison for qualifications for restaurants, catering and the like. Those last few weeks in prison are often a crucial time for prisoners gaining the qualifications they need to get a decent job when they are released. I am sure every prisoner wants to go as soon as they can, but is the Minister aware, and will the Government take consideration, of the effect of prisoners not receiving their qualifications because they have not quite been completed by the time their advanced release date comes?
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The Bishop of Manchester tabled a question on the potential benefits of bringing the rate of Universal Credit for care leavers under 25 in line with the rate for over-25s on 13th May 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential benefits of bringing the rate of Universal Credit for care leavers under 25 in line with the rate for over-25s.
Continue reading “Bishop of Manchester asks about uprating universal credit for care leavers”On 13th may 2024, the Bishop of Bristol tabled a question on waiting times for decisions under the National Referral Mechanism for modern slavery:
The Lord Bishop of Bristol: To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce waiting times for ‘conclusive grounds’ decisions under the National Referral Mechanism for modern slavery.
Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con, Home Office): My Lords, the Government remain committed to ensuring that victims are identified promptly. We have taken steps to shorten the timelines for making decisions in the national referral mechanism, including new guidance for making reasonable grounds decisions, changes to the online referral form and setting timescales for information to be provided to the competent authorities. We have also significantly increased staffing for the competent authorities and are seeing the results through increased output of decisions.
Continue reading “Bishop of Bristol asks about waiting times for identifying victims of modern slavery”
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