The Church of England in Parliament

Church Commissioners Written Answers: Energy Cost Grant

Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answer to a question from an MP on 18th December 2022:

Mr Ben Bradshaw MP (Lab): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether he expects dioceses to pass the Energy Costs Grant direct to parishes.

Andrew Selous MP (Con): The Church Commissioners were pleased to provide £15m to the Archbishops’ Council for distribution to dioceses for Energy Costs Grants. All dioceses received a share of this Grant in October. The main purpose of the Grant is to help Parochial Church Councils to cover the increased cost of heating and lighting church buildings this winter.

Bishop of Leeds asks about new legislation on NGOs in Pakistan

The Bishop of Leeds received the following written answer on 16th December 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the government of Pakistan’s rules regarding the registration and operation of international NGOs in that country and the impact that these rules have had on the work of NGOs that His Majesty’s Government supports.

Bishop of Guildford asks about civil society organisations in Pakistan

The Bishop of Guildford received the following written answers on 16th December 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Guildford asked His Majesty’s Government what support they provide to the Centre for Social Justice in Pakistan.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con): The UK is a long-term supporter of civil society in Pakistan, and we engage with the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) as part of our work on human rights. I conducted a roundtable discussion with human rights stakeholders – including Peter Jacobs, Executive Director of CSJ – on 15 October, discussing open societies and the work of Non-Government Organisations (NGOs). We continue to engage with the Government of Pakistan to ensure NGOs such as CSJ can operate effectively.

Bishop of St Albans asks about price caps on alternative fuels

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 16th December 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 17 November (HL3214), why they have no plans for a price cap on alternative fuel.

Lord Callanan (Con): The markets for alternative fuels – including heating oil, coal, LPG, and biomass – contain a large range of suppliers not subject to the same regulation as electricity and gas suppliers. This means there is no single regulated standard price to modify by the imposition of a price cap.

Bishop of St Albans stresses importance of Overseas Development Aid

The Bishop of St Albans spoke in a debate on Overseas Development Aid (ODA) on 15th December 2022, with particular reference to famine in the Horn of Africa, urging the government against cutting back on aid:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Bruce of Bennachie, for his excellent introduction, which was informed and passionate. I would also like to highlight and underline my deep regret at His Majesty’s Government’s cuts to official development assistance spending.

I find myself in touch weekly with some of the poverty here in our own country as I visit food banks, debt advice centres, or the clubs that some of our churches now run to give breakfast to schoolchildren. I am acutely aware that we have real need here in our own country, but it is of a completely different order compared with what many other countries in the world face. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Hannan, that we need to spend our aid carefully. It is actually quite difficult to spend large amounts of money. We sometimes find it difficult in this country and sometimes people do not spend it well. Of course we need to work at that, but the answer is not to cut our aid but to make sure that we are using it in the most effective way.

Bishop of Chelmsford asks about access to affordable housing

The Bishop of Chelmsford asked a question about government action to ensure affordable housing in light of the current cost of living on 15th December 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: To ask His Majesty’s Government, given the increased cost of living, what actions they will take to ensure that housing is affordable in relation to household incomes in (1) the private rented sector, (2) the social housing sector, and (3) for homeowners with mortgages.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con): My Lords, the Government recognise the cost of living pressures that people are facing across this country, particularly this winter. Local housing allowance rates have been maintained at their increased level following a boost in investment of nearly £1 billion in April 2020. The Government have also capped social housing rent increases for 2023-24 at 7% to protect social tenants from higher rent increases, and last week we published a mortgage support statement setting out the support available to mortgage holders.

Bishop of St Albans asks about access to cash in rural areas

The Bishop of St Albans asked whether the government would ensure that any decision made about the use of cash as legal tender would take into account difficulties specific to rural areas, during a debate on the future acceptance of cash on 15th December 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, this is a problem that particularly affects rural areas, where there are far fewer cash-dispensing machines. Also, there are many parts of rural areas where there is no internet, so even if you want to pay by BACS or direct transfer, you just cannot do it. Will the Minister assure us that the Government will properly rural-proof this discussion so that we are able to ensure that rural areas can still function effectively?

Bishop of Durham asks about regulation of online credit offers

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 15th December 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked His Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to increase regulation for unregulated digital Buy-Now-Pay-Later products; and if so, when they intend to introduce such measures.

Bishop of St Albans urges better communication with local authorities when processing people in the asylum system

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question regarding lack of communication with local authorities regarding people seeking asylum on 14th December 2022, following a government statement on immigration and plans for the future of the asylum system:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, there are a number of aspects of this Statement which I welcome, not least that there are going to be increased numbers of people processing and that the aim is to process within weeks rather than months and get people through the system much more quickly. But there really has been quite a problem, not least at Manston, where at one stage 4,000 people were staying in a centre designed for 1,600. As they were being shipped out around the country, a whole lot were delivered into Luton, in my diocese, with no warning. Even the local authority was not able to help. So my question is: what lessons have been learned? Can we be sure that we are really communicating well with local authorities, so that we can work on this together, give people dignity and try and process them as quickly and effectively as we can?

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