On 12th March 2021, the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Andrew Selous MP, gave the following written answer to a question from an MP:
Church of England: Land
Jim Shannon MP (DUP, Strangford): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the church is taking to encourage (a) regenerative agriculture, (b) more treeplanting and (c) good stewardship of hedgerows across its rural estates.
Continue reading “Church Commissioners Questions: Land”On 11th March 2021, the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Andrew Selous MP, gave the following written answers to questions from an MP:
Church Land
Jim Shannon MP (DUP, Strangford): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the church is taking to provide affordable, sustainable and beautiful housing on land it owns.
Continue reading “Church Commissioners Written Questions: Church Land, Religious Freedom, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Remote Education”
On 11th March 2021, the Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government, further to their revised target to reach a “minimum of 85 per cent gigabit broadband coverage by 2025”, as set out in the National Infrastructure Strategy, published in November 2020, whether they still intend to use an “outside-in approach” to support full-fibre rollout.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about full fibre broadband rollout”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 11th March 2021:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to undertake a longitudinal study to consider the impact of exposure to gambling advertising from an early age.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about long term impact of gambling advertising”
The Bishop of Gloucester spoke during a debate on amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill on 10th March 2021, supporting an amendment on community services, and further amendments seeking to clarify the statutory defences for victims of domestic abuse who commit an offence:
The Lord Bishop of Gloucester [V]: My Lords, my friend the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Derby, who regrets that she cannot be here today, was pleased to support the noble Lord, Lord Polak, when his amendment on specialist and community-based services was discussed in Committee. We really warmly welcome the government amendments, which represent significant improvements on the Bill. All that being said, I am glad that the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, introduced Amendment 85 so that we might just press a little further. I do not want to repeat what other noble Lords have said, so I will make just a few brief comments.
We have heard repeatedly in debates in this House of the value of specialist and community-based services which allow survivors to remain in their homes and retain their community, their faith links and their workplaces and to keep children in their schools. Finding a long-term solution, as others have said, to supporting these services is essential. With colleagues on the Bishops’ Bench, I look forward to engaging with the victims’ law consultation and to reviewing the promised Clause 8 report from the domestic abuse commissioner to Parliament on the provision of, and need for, community-based support services.
Continue reading “Domestic Abuse Bill: Bishop of Gloucester supports amendments on community services and self defence law in cases of domestic abuse”On 10th 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 St Albans asked a question on displacement of civilians following unrest in Myanmar on 10th March 2021:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans [V]: Is the Minister aware that in addition to the military’s crackdown on protesters, military offensives are taking place in northern Shan, Kachin and Karen states, causing the mass displacement of civilians? What are Her Majesty’s Government doing to ensure the protection of these civilians and to allow for urgent humanitarian assistance to reach them?
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about displacement of civilians in Myanmar”
The Bishop of Winchester received the following written answer on 10th March 2021:
The Lord Bishop of Winchester asked Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to assist developing countries to develop a working cold-chain storage system for storing COVID-19 vaccines at the required temperatures.
Continue reading “Bishop of Winchester asks about provision of coronavirus vaccines in developing countries”
On 21st March 2021, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill. The Bishop of Leeds spoke in support of amendment 14, which would provide that the presumption against prosecution in the bill does not apply to war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide or torture:
The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, I understand the stated rationale for this Bill and I state at the outset that I have enormous respect for the noble Baroness the Minister, but I am struggling. I am not a lawyer, but I would like to focus on a couple of specific questions. I understand the difficulty with vexatious and untimely litigation, which is a curse, but legitimate litigation, however inconvenient, is surely the blessing of a free and civilised society that honours international law and a rules-based system in more than words.
The basic reason why I speak in support of Amendment 14 is that I fear the law of predictable or conscious consequences more than the law of unintended consequences. I ask the Minister to explain clearly this anomaly, which I cannot get my head around: this Bill, as currently drafted, will make it possible for an incident of torture or murder not to be prosecuted while a sexual offence committed in the same incident would be subject to prosecution. That suggests to me either that the reference to sexual offences is arbitrary or that torture and crimes against humanity and so on should also be admitted in the same category.
Continue reading “Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill: Bishop of Leeds raises concerns on prosecution limits”
The Bishop of Worcester asked a question on tackling inefficiencies in NHS resources to provide for future pay rises for health workers, during a discussion on the NHS pay review on 9th March 2021:
The Lord Bishop of Worcester: My Lords, I appreciate the immense, unprecedented and unforeseen pressure that the Government are under as they struggle with the devastating effects of the pandemic on public finances. At the same time, as has been noted, we all want to recognise the huge debt of gratitude that we owe to nurses and other health workers. Recognising that would best be done by a pay increase. We are told that a 1% increase is all that can be afforded. Can the Minister comment on whether he thinks tackling the estimated £2 billion lost annually through inefficiencies related to unnecessary A&E attendance and GP consultations might give more wriggle room?
Continue reading “Bishop of Worcester asks about sourcing NHS pay rises”
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