The Bishop of London received the following written answer on 16th March 2021:
The Lord Bishop of London asked Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Patient Initiated Follow Up does not create barriers for deprived and excluded patients to access NHS care.
Continue reading “Bishop of London asks about potential health inequalities in Patient Choice Schemes”
The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 16th March 2021:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have, if any, to include human rights provisions in any future trade agreement between the UK and the Philippines.
Continue reading “Bishop of Southwark asks about human rights considerations in trade agreements”
On 15th March 2021, during a debate on the Domestic Abuse Bill, the Bishop of Gloucester moved her amendment to the bill which would provide temporary leave to remain and access to public funds to support migrant victims of domestic abuse:
The Lord Bishop of Gloucester [V]: My Lords, I should like at the outset to acknowledge the assistance that I have received from Southall Black Sisters in preparing this amendment, and also thank the Minister for her time and compassion in discussing this with me. Amendment 70 is tabled in my name with the support of the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Goudie and Lady Hamwee, and I am grateful to every one of them.
I know that the protection of all victims of domestic abuse is a priority of noble Lords across the House, and I am grateful for the support shown for this amendment, which aims to provide migrant victims of abuse with temporary leave to remain and access to public funds for a period of no less than six months, so that they can access support services while they flee abuse and apply to resolve their immigration status. The mechanism for doing so is straightforward: extend the eligibility criteria of the existing domestic violence—DV—rule, which is a proven route for a limited group of survivors, including those on certain spousal and partner visas.
The Government raised concerns over the interpretation of the amendment, so we have made a couple of minor changes to proposed new subsections (1) and (2) to clarify the purpose of this amendment. There is also an updated explanatory note. I hope that what is now clear from the minor changes to the wording is that we are asking for temporary leave to remain and access to public funds while these extremely vulnerable people escape their abusers and regularise their immigration status. This is not about guaranteeing indefinite leave to remain to all migrant victims of abuse.
Continue reading “Domestic Abuse Bill: Bishop of Gloucester moves amendment providing temporary leave to remain for migrant victims of abuse”The Bishop of London spoke in favour of an amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill focused on protections for migrant women reporting domestic abuse on 15th March 2021:
The Lord Bishop of London [V]: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, for her work on this amendment. It is also a pleasure to follow the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss.
Amendment 67, to which I give my support, speaks to an underlying issue with several amendments that concern migrant women: namely, the balance between the Home Office’s commitment to immigration enforcement and the support of victims, which is too often weighted too heavily towards the former. From my own work exploring how varying circumstances, such as migration, affect one’s health outcomes, I hear far too often of victims of crime too nervous to come forward to the police for fear that, rather than receiving the help and support that they need, they will instead find themselves indefinitely detained, split from children and families and deported. The result is that they simply do not come forward, for fear is weaponised by abusers to prevent their victims escaping. This is all too common.
Continue reading “Domestic Abuse Bill: Bishop of London speaks in favour of amendment on protection for migrant women”
On 15th March 2021, during a debate on the Domestic Abuse Bill, the Bishop of Carlisle spoke in support of an amendment addressing fees charged for medical evidence:
The Lord Bishop of Carlisle [V]: My Lords, I too address Amendment 71. As the lead bishop for health and social care, and with the support of my friend the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of London—as we have heard, she supported this amendment in Committee—I also thank the Government for listening and for tabling amendments that prohibit charging for medical evidence under these circumstances. I also pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, for his hard work in raising this matter. I regard the Government’s proposal as an excellent addition to the Bill, which will greatly assist a group of highly vulnerable people in securing the support that they need, and I am glad of this opportunity to express our gratitude to all those involved in bringing this about.
The Bishop of Gloucester asked a question on the need to support contact between mothers and children on 15th March 2021, during a discussion on the issue of self-harm among women in prison:
The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, as has been said, anxiety is considerable for mothers in prison. The Visiting Mum scheme in HMP Eastwood Park found that the incidence of self-harm reduced when women had regular support contact with their children. What are the Government doing to ensure that motherhood is properly highlighted in pre-sentencing reports and that prison sentences are not used for mothers when a community-based intervention would be appropriate—as just highlighted by the Minister himself?
Continue reading “Bishop of Gloucester asks about facilitation of contact with children for mothers in prison”On 15th March 2021, the House of Lords debated the Domestic Abuse Bill in report. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
The Bishop of Bristol received the following written answer on 15th March 2021:
The Lord Bishop of Bristol asked Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office on 7 October 2020 (96911), what further plans they have to publish guidance on what constitutes reasonable grounds for missing the deadline for the EU Settlement Scheme.
Continue reading “Bishop of Bristol asks about EU Settlement Scheme”
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 15th March 2021:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to include consideration of issues relating to gambling harm in the professional sports community in the development of the cross-Government addiction strategy.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about gambling rehabilitation”
On 12th March 2021, the Bishop of Portsmouth spoke in a debate on the state of the economy, following the delivery of the new Budget by the Chancellor:
The Lord Bishop of Portsmouth [V]: My Lords, I welcome from the Bishops’ Bench the noble Lords, Lord Beynon, Lord Cruddas and Lord Khan of Burnley, and congratulate them on their speeches. I am looking forward to hearing them. I also welcome the noble Lord, Lord Bellingham, and my namesake, the noble Baroness, Lady Foster of Oxton.
Every Budget has consequences in every community, including those I serve as Bishop of Portsmouth. In these last comments that I shall make on a Budget Statement, I have four points on how this Budget is likely to make the sharp end sharper still for many, with little slack, even in better times. A decade on from the Dilnot report, there is still no proposal to address the social care challenge, even though apparently the Government have a package ready. We should have bitten this bullet years ago. We must bite it now.
Continue reading “Bishop of Portsmouth responds to budget on issues of tax, benefits, and social care”
The Church of England in Parliament 
You must be logged in to post a comment.