Domestic Abuse Bill: Bishop of London speaks in favour of amendment on protection for migrant women

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.

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Domestic Abuse Bill: Bishop of Carlisle supports amendment on medical evidence charges

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.

Hansard

Bishop of Gloucester asks about facilitation of contact with children for mothers in prison

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?

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Votes: Domestic Abuse Bill

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:

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Bishop of Bristol asks about EU Settlement Scheme

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.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about gambling rehabilitation

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.

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Bishop of Portsmouth responds to budget on issues of tax, benefits, and social care

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.

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Church Commissioners Questions: Land

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.

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Church Commissioners Written Questions: Church Land, Religious Freedom, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Remote Education

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.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about full fibre broadband rollout

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.

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