Bishop of Guildford asks about freedom of religion in the Commonwealth

The Bishop of Guildford asked the following question on 28th June 2022, during a debate on the Commonwealth:

The Lord Bishop of Guildford: My Lords, as the Minister knows extremely well, this week marks a brief lull between the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda last week and the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief in London next week. Given the overlap between those two conferences, what progress has been made on this basic human right, not least given that three of the Commonwealth nations—India, Pakistan and Nigeria—are among the worst when it comes to protecting the rights, and even the lives, of Christians and those of other faiths and beliefs?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about smoking and young people

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 28th June 2022:

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

  • how the consumption by individuals under the age of 18 differs between smokers of tobacco and users of e-cigarettes or vapes.
  • what concerns they have, if any, regarding the marketing of e-cigarettes and vapes to under-18s.
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Bishop of St Albans asks about modern slavery

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 27th June 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesties Government what assessment they have made of the Safe Car Wash App by the Clewer Initiative; and how many instances of modern slavery have been linked to car washes in the last 10 years.

Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con): The Government is fully committed to tackling the heinous crime of modern slavery, including when it manifests in car washes to ensure those who commit these crimes are brought to justice.

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Bishop of Chelmsford welcomes Social Housing (Regulation) Bill and urges Government to go further

On 27th June 2022 the Bishop of Chelmsford spoke during the Second Reading debate of the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, I also begin by congratulating the noble Viscount, Lord Camrose, on his excellent maiden speech. Clearly, he has a whole set of skills and experiences that will ensure that his contributions in this House will be highly valuable, as was apparent in his incisive and to the point speech, much of which I agree with and endorse.

Before I go any further, I declare my specific interest as the Church of England’s lead bishop for housing. Noble Lords will know that the Archbishops’ Commission on Housing, Church and Community has been actively working to envision how the Church, government and the nation might tackle the current housing crisis. Last year, the commission released its Coming Home report, which sets out in detail a reimagining of housing policy and practice centred on five core values, which are that housing should be “sustainable, safe, stable, sociable and satisfying.”

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Bishop of Guildford asks about the Persecution of Christians Across the Globe Independent Review

The Bishop of Guildford received the following written answer on 27th June 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Guildford asked Her Majesty’s Government:

  • in advance of the third anniversary of the publication of the Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review for the UK Foreign Secretary of Foreign and Commonwealth Office Support for Persecuted Christians, published on 4 July 2019, whether they intend to fulfil recommendation 22 of that report.
  • who will conduct the review of the progress made since the Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review for the UK Foreign Secretary of Foreign and Commonwealth Office Support for Persecuted Christians, published on 4 July 2019; what will be their terms of reference; and when the findings of this review will be published.
  • whether they intend to implement any of the recommendations of the Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review for the UK Foreign Secretary of Foreign and Commonwealth Office Support for Persecuted Christians, published on 4 July 2019, after 4 July this year.
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Bishop of St Albans asks about health professions recruitment

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 27th June 2022:

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

  • how many nurses were hired in England from countries graded as red by the World Health Organisation for each of the past 10 years.
  • what plans they have, if any, to stop hiring health care professionals from countries listed as red by the World Health Organisation.

Lord Kamall (Con): Information on the number of nurses hired in England from countries graded as red by the World Health Organization (WHO) for each of the past 10 years, is not collected in the format requested. While the National Health Service Electronic Staff Record collects self-reported data on nationality, this does not show where staff were trained or the country in which they were resident at that time.

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Bishop of Durham asks about views of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities

On 26th July 2022, the Bishop of Durham asked a question in a debate on the Roma Community: Levelling Up:

The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, in a recent conversation with Billy Welch, who organises the Appleby Horse Fair and lives in Darlington, he asked—while recognising the deep problems that have been highlighted in all these questions—that we please start talking about the positive contributions that GRT communities make. Would the Minister like to comment on his view?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about overseas aid funding

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 23rd June 2022:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 31 May (HL450 and HL451), whether the £72 million in financial aid to (1) Ethiopia, (2) Kenya, (3) Somalia, and (4) South Sudan, to combat drought, flooding and conflict was additional to the £169 million in aid allocated to those countries in 2021–22.

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Bishop of Durham asks about Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 23rd June 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice on 29 November 2021 (79500), how many surgeries have been held at Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre since contingency arrangements were put in place to provide access to the Detention Duty Advice Scheme.

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Bishop of Blackburn makes his valedictory speech in debate on the Union of the United Kingdom

The Bishop of Blackburn, Rt Revd Julian Henderson, made his final speech to the House of Lords during a debate on the Union of the United Kingdom, on 23d June 2022:

The Lord Bishop of Blackburn: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Lisvane, for this opportunity to make a brief contribution to this debate on our union, although I have learned a new meaning of the word “brief” while I have been in your Lordships’ House: it does not always mean “short”. I am sorry if I disappoint the hopes of the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, about my valedictory speech.

My time in your Lordships’ House has been limited—just over two years—partly because it has been right for my female colleagues to take precedence in joining your Lordships’ House and partly because it has been constrained by the pandemic. There has been a lot to learn as well as to admire in a place of such expertise and wisdom, but I regret that I have not been able to become more involved in the serious business of your Lordships’ House.

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