On 3rd November 2025, The Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill focused on institutional investment:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I noted what the noble Lord, Lord Evans, has just said. Unlike my predecessor, I have no intention of trying to petition for parts of the diocese of Chester to become parts of the diocese of Manchester, just because of the urban sprawl extending—but I rise to speak in favour of the amendment proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Fuller.
During a debate on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill on 27th October 2025, the Bishop of Norwich spoke to his amendment on the protection of chalk streams, which “would require a spatial development strategy to list chalk streams in the strategy area, outline measures to protect them from environmental harm, and impose responsibility on strategic planning authorities to protect and enhance chalk stream environments.”
The Lord Bishop of Norwich: My Lords, I shall speak to Amendment 94, and I thank the noble Earl, Lord Caithness, the noble Viscount, Lord Trenchard, and the noble Baroness, Lady Willis of Summertown, for their support. I am most grateful to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Grender, who has just spoken so powerfully about her amendment, as well as offering her support for this amendment. Amendment 94 would require a spatial development strategy to list chalk streams in the strategy area, outline measures to protect them from environmental harm and impose responsibility on strategic planning authorities to protect and enhance chalk stream environments.
Chalk streams, as we have heard, are a very special type of river. Some 85% of the world’s chalk streams are in England. They are fed primarily by spring water from the chalk aquifer, not rain, which means that they have clear, cold water and very stable flows. These globally rare habitats are found in a broad sweep from Yorkshire and the Lincolnshire Wolds through Norfolk, the Chilterns, Hampshire and Dorset. The Bure, Glaven, Wensum, Test, Itchen and Meon are river names that come to mind flowing, as they do, through the tapestry of English history and in our literature, such as the River Pang-based Wind in the Willows. They are rich in minerals, especially calcium, and this “base rich” environment supports a distinctive and rich ecology.
It is no wonder that this amendment and a similar one in the other place have received such positive support, including in your Lordships’ Committee. What it seeks to do is such an obvious thing, for what we love, we should desire to protect; what we value, we should safeguard; what is of global significance, we should be deeply proud of.
The Bishop of Leicester spoke at the second reading of the Secure 16 to 19 Academies Bill on 24th October 2025, emphasising the strong support for the bill on the Bishops Benches and the need to ensure children in custody are treated with fairness and consideration:
The Lord Bishop of Leicester: My Lords, I rise to speak in support of this Bill, at the encouragement of the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Derby, who regrets that she cannot be in her place today.
The Bishop of Leicester spoke at the third reading of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill on 23rd October 2025, querying whether the government minister would provide written confirmation of actions taken with regards to managing overpayments:
The Lord Bishop of Leicester: My Lords, I support this Bill and add my thanks to all those who have engaged so thoroughly in its detail. It has been an important learning experience for me in the processes of your Lordships’ House, an experience that I hope I can bring to bear on other business in this place.
The Bishop of Leicester spoke in support of an amendment to the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill which would provide protections for those in poverty regarding benefit overpayments on 21st October 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Leicester: My Lords, I am pleased to have added my name to this amendment. As this is the first time that I have spoken at this stage, I want to thank the Ministers for their careful consideration of the concerns raised by noble Lords, as well as all those who have engaged with such diligence on this matter. For the record, this is an important Bill. Attempts to commit fraud will not stop as a result of this Bill—that will never be possible—but it will be far harder for those making these attempts, and that is absolutely right, as is the ability to recover overpayments.
The principles behind this amendment are fairness in the face of the various reasons for an overpayment being made, including error by the department, and affordability, ensuring that those already in poverty are not pushed further into it. Let us remember who will bear the brunt of these new powers: people who are reliant on benefits, which independent research suggests are already insufficient to meet people’s basic needs. With the requirement to pay off their debts via universal credit deductions of up to 15% of the standard allowance, there is a real risk that many will, I fear, be pushed even deeper into poverty.
The Bishop of Derby spoke at the second reading of the Crime and Policing Bill on 16th October 2025, confirming that the Bishops Benches are committed to working proactively on the bill:
The Lord Bishop of Derby: My Lords, I commend this Government’s mission to achieve safer streets and applaud particularly the aim of halving both knife crime and violence against women and girls in a decade. The Bill touches on a wide range of complex and important issues, and I will raise just a few.
Reporting of child sexual abuse and the decriminalisation of abortion are of particular interest to my colleagues on these Benches. Indeed, noble Lords may have seen the Church’s statement in response to the debate in the other place on the decriminalisation of women seeking abortion.
On 13th October 2025, the Bishop of Sheffield spoke in support of three amendments to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill on support for family life and for refugee children separated from their parents:
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield: My Lords, I will speak in support of three amendments in this group, one to which I have put my name and two to which the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Chelmsford has put hers; as we have heard, she regrets that she cannot be in her place today. I refer to Amendment 177 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, Amendment 178 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, and Amendment 203K in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Lister.
It is not just the Christian Church that regards the family as more than a merely biological unit; it is the fundamental God-given building block of community life and the source of belonging and stability for children. The former Home Secretary recognised this when she wrote in 2020:
The Archbishop of York spoke at the second reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on 19th September 2025, pointing out the need for better palliative care in the UK and the risks of implementing this legislation:
The Lord Archbishop of York: My Lords, it is an honour to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins. I will of course speak for myself, but I also know that I represent views held by many faith leaders—not just Christian leaders—across our nation, with whom I have been in discussion and who have written to me.
Jesus teaches us that how we live our lives in relationship to others is vital for the health of our society and our own personal well-being. We belong with and for each other. The Bill is wrong because it ruptures relationships, serving one need but creating many others.
The noble Lord, Lord Baker, and several others in this important and moving debate gave the game away early on: no Government, he said, will be prepared to provide palliative and social care in the way it is needed, thus revealing that the Bill’s impact will be economic as well as social. Several speakers said there were too many safeguards; others, that provision for assisted dying ought to be expanded.
The Bishop of Chichester spoke at the second reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on 19th September 2025, stressing the principle of the sanctity of life and questioning the ethical foundations of the bill:
The Lord Bishop of Chichester: My Lords, it is a privilege to follow the noble Lord, Lord Curry. I begin by acknowledging reverence for all contributors to this debate, which touches on our deepest emotions: lacrimae rerum, the things of which tears are made.
The noble Lord, Lord Carlile of Berriew, reminded us that, since the end of capital punishment, causing the death of another citizen is not allowed in our law, other than in war. The noble Lord, Lord Herbert of South Downs, was not alone in describing the introduction of a provision in law to cause death as a “crossing the Rubicon” moment. Although the right to life, enshrined in law, is a moral principle consistent with the Christian faith, it should not be regarded as the imposition of Christianity on the pluralist democracy we are proud to be. However, many Christians, including myself, see the Bill as crossing the Rubicon, and this is why.
The Bishop of Chelmsford spoke in favour of two amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on 16th September 2025, first on introducing a duty on schools to record incidences of racism or interfaith bullying, and secondly on the commissioning of a report on improving educational attainment for children with a parent in prison:
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, I speak in support of Amendment 464 knowing that, had my right reverend friend the Bishop of Lincoln been in his place, he would very much have wanted to contribute to the debate. If passed, this amendment would introduce a duty on schools to record and report any incidents of racism or faith-based bullying on school premises.
It would also help diocesan boards of education in collating and monitoring such cases and better assisting those church schools which might benefit from support.
In preparing for this speech, I spoke to our own director of education in Chelmsford diocese, whose team oversees 139 church schools. She told me that this proposed amendment had the potential to help the board of education strengthen anti-bullying and inclusive practices in partnership with schools.
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