Category: Questions

Oral & written questions in the Lords and Commons

Bishop of Manchester comments on pressures faced by Avanti train staff

The Bishop of Manchester spoke in a discussion on issues with the Avanti train service on 27th February 2024, expressing support for the train staff working under difficult conditions and inviting the government to do the same:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, a number of times in this short session, we seem to have had it suggested that somehow the Avanti staff are to blame. I suffer along with the noble Lord, Lord Goddard, regularly on that Manchester Piccadilly to Euston route. The staff are wonderful; it is not the driver’s fault if they are eight minutes late, or the fault of the person bringing you a cup of tea if they are 40 minutes late. The problem does not lie with the Avanti staff, who are working under incredibly difficult conditions. Can the Minister join me in expressing support for those staff in the work that they are doing under very trying circumstances?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about financial penalties for fly-tipping and livestock worrying

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 27th February 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to increasing the fixed-penalty fine for fly-tipping to a maximum of £2,000.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about incidences of and prosecutions for female genital mutilation

The Bishop of St Albans receives the following written answer on 27th February 2024:

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

  • how many female genital mutilation offences were recorded between April 2022 and March 2023; and of those, how many prosecutions have occurred.
  • further to the Written Answer by Lord Stewart of Dirleton on 29 March 2023 (HL6584), when the government-funded feasibility study on the prevalence of female genital mutilation and forced marriage in England and Wales will be published.
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Bishop of Gloucester asks about release of prisoners on temporary licence

The Bishop of Gloucester asked a question on steps being taken to increase release of prisoners on temporary licence to encourage rehabilitation and help with finding work, during a discussion on employment of people with criminal convictions on 26th February 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, from these Benches I add our own sadness at the death of Lord Cormack. His contributions to this House and to the Church will be sorely missed.

As has been said, there has been a serious decline in rehabilitation and release planning services in recent years. Prisoners need to be engaged with purposeful work; there needs to be planning ahead of their release—including release on temporary licence—to secure employment, if we are to prevent reoffending. What steps are the Government taking to increase release on temporary licence?

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Church Commissioners Written Questions: Churches in Nigeria, Silent Discos, Asylum, Independent Safeguarding Board, CofE Staff, and Church Finances

On 26th February 2024, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs:

Churches: Nigeria

Sir Edward Leigh MP (Con, Gainsborough): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the Church has had discussions with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on the attack on the St Francis Xavier Church in Owo, Nigeria in 2022; and whether the Church is providing aid for the victims of that attack.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about training on forced marriage

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 26th February 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many professionals the Forced Marriage Unit delivered training to in 2023; and how many people took the Forced Marriage Unit’s “Awareness of Forced Marriage” free online course in 2023.

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Bishop of Norwich asks about government plans to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty

The Bishop of Norwich received the following written answer on 26th February 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Norwich asked His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about domestic waste management systems

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 26th February 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of household waste and recycling centre closures on incidences of fly-tipping.

Lord Douglas-Miller (Con, DEFRA): We have previously commissioned research into the drivers, deterrents and impacts of fly-tipping that suggested any friction in the system relating to the use of Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs), which have negative impacts on cost or convenience, can act as provocations for normally law-abiding people or businesses to fly-tip or give their waste to someone who goes on to fly-tip. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires waste disposal authorities to provide places for residents to deposit household waste. It is a Local Authority responsibility to manage suitable availability.

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Bishop of Norwich asks about amount of development aid spent on ecosystem conservation

The Bishop of Norwich received the following written answers on 26th February 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Norwich asked what proportion of Official Development Assistance has been spent on ecosystem conservation, protection and restoration and tree planting internationally in the last five years, and what proportion of Official Development Assistance is forecast to be spent in these areas in the next budget period.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about Ash Dieback Disease

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 26th February 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of ash trees infected with the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus in the year 2023.

Lord Douglas-Miller (Con, DEFRA): The Government does not collect data on the number of individual ash trees that have become infected with ash dieback, but the disease is now present in all counties and is predicted to kill over 100 million trees in the UK. Hymenoscyphus fraxineus is spread via spores which can spread for considerable distances in the wind before infecting another ash tree. This means it is not possible to limit the spread of the disease. Some local authorities conduct annual surveys of ash trees to track local spread and decline and inform their management strategies.

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