The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 19th March 2024:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many successful prosecutions by the Environment Agency there were for fishing without a licence in England in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about prosecutions for unlicensed fishing”On 18th March 2024, the Bishop of Worcester spoke in a debate on the spring budget, paying tribute to aspects of the budget such as the continuation of the household support fund and the reduction in National Insurance, and expressing regret that the international aid budget had not been increased:
The Lord Bishop of Worcester: My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Kempsell, on an excellent maiden speech, which was thoughtful and brief—and, as we all know, concision is next to godliness.
I have learned a lot in this debate, including the operation of the VAT regime on nuts—probably more than I would have wanted to have known. However, I will not concentrate my remarks on that.
It is clear that the Chancellor had a difficult task in producing the Budget, as has been observed by one of his predecessors, the noble Lord, Lord Lamont, who knows better than anyone. I want to pay tribute to the many good things in the Budget: the continuation of the household support fund, the reform of non-dom status, the increase in public services spending by 1% above inflation, and the welcome reduction in national insurance, to name but a few. However, I was very disappointed by one lacuna, to which I want to address my remarks now. That is, that the aid budget was not increased.
Continue reading “Budget Debate: Bishop of Worcester highlights need for increased spending on overseas aid”The Bishop of Worcester asked a question on the benefits of cooperation and partnerships between schools on 18th March 2024, during a discussion on the contribution of independent schools to the education sector:
The Lord Bishop of Worcester: My Lords, I draw attention to my interest as president of the Woodard Corporation, one of the largest Christian education charities in the country. The noble Lord, Lord Black, drew attention to the partnership between Brentwood School and other schools in the area.
Continue reading “Bishop of Worcester asks about benefits of inter-school partnerships”The Bishop of Chelmsford received the following written answer on 18th March 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford asked His Majesty’s Government what statistical evidence is held by the Home Office to support the claim made by former Home Secretary in the Daily Telegraph on 3 February that between 6 September 2022 and 13 November 2023, she “became aware of churches around the country facilitating industrial-scale bogus asylum claims”.
Continue reading “Bishop of Chelmsford asks about recent statements by former Home Secretary on churches and asylum claims”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 18th March 2024:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of the United Arab Emirates on the seizing of two ports the Sudanese Red Sea coast through proxy forces, and that they have plans to build a third port.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about foreign powers involvement in conflict in Sudan”The Bishop of Chelmsford received the following written answers on 18th March 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford asked His Majesty’s Government whether they are taking steps to develop engagement forums with asylum seeker and refugee communities.
Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con, Home Office): We regularly engage with stakeholders through standalone meetings and various forums such as the Asylum Strategic Engagement Group, which includes organisations who both speak for and represent asylum seekers.
Continue reading “Bishop of Chelmsford asks about social and community measures for those seeking asylum”The Bishop of Leicester asked a question on threats to freedom of religion and belief in India on 14th March 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Leicester: My Lords, the number of acts of religiously motivated violence against Christians in India has increased almost every year since 2014, from 147 to 687 in 2023. Last year, over 500 Christians were arrested under anti-conversion laws, including a couple and their pastor during their wedding, on the grounds that it was a conversion event. Will the Minister condemn this state of affairs and, if so, what steps will the Government take with their allies to defend the freedom of religion and belief in India?
Continue reading “Bishop of Leicester asks about freedom of religion and belief in India”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 14th March 2024:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the issues raised by the Survival International Report of the Northern Rangelands Trust carbon offsetting project in Kenya.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about carbon emissions in Kenya”On 13th March 2024, the Bishop of Leicester asked a question on whether the government would increase the rate of statutory paternity pay entitlement in order to better support new families during a discussion on the wage gap between mothers and fathers in the UK:
The Lord Bishop of Leicester: My Lords, the same report from Pregnant Then Screwed also found that a significant proportion of new fathers and secondary parents simply cannot afford to take their full paternity leave because of the low level of statutory paternity pay. Most other European countries have far more generous paternity leave entitlements than the UK’s, in both length and pay, which bring benefits for family bonds and support gender equality. Will the Government commit to increasing the statutory leave entitlement so that families in the UK can also reap these benefits?
Continue reading “Bishop of Leicester asks about rates of paternity pay”During a debate on the Victims and Prisoners Bill on 12th March 2024, the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, on behalf of the Bishop of Manchester, spoke in support of removing clauses 49-52 from the bill on the basis that they would potentially weaken human rights protections in the UK through disapplication of certain rights to prisoners:
The Lord Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich: My Lords, my right reverend friend the Bishop of Manchester regrets that he cannot be here today to speak to the amendments to which he has put his name.
The basis of our opposition to Clauses 49 to 51, to echo points made by the noble Lord, Lord German, and the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, is that human rights need to be applied universally, even when disapplication might seem expedient. We know that, when people are marginalised, it is then that human rights protections are most necessary and, as such, the disapplication of rights to prisoners, who rely on independent courts and the justice system to guarantee basic minimum standards of fairness and respect, is particularly egregious. The Law Society has warned that these clauses
“significantly weaken the system of human rights protections in the UK”.
My right reverend friend and I add our voices to these concerns.
Continue reading “Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich expresses concern over human rights protections”
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