On 2nd July 2019 Baroness Goldie (Con) repeated a Government statement on Hong Kong. The Bishop of Carlisle, Rt Revd James Newcome, asked a follow-up question:
Bishop of Carlisle: My Lords, may I ask what advice Her Majesty’s Government might give to those from this country intending to visit Hong Kong at this time?
Continue reading “Bishop of Carlisle asks Government about travel to Hong Kong”
On 2nd July 2019 Baroness McIntosh of Pickering asked the Government “what measures they propose to take to ensure that there is adequate provision of GP services in rural areas”. The Bishop of London, Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, asked a follow-up question:
The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, I speak as a co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Rural Health and Social Care. Living now in a city, I know the challenge of rural health provision, but GP services are not just about doctors. They are also about nurses and community workers. Can the Minister comment on the possibility of developing direct access training for district nurses and health visitors?
On 2nd July 2019 Lord Evans of Watford asked the Government “what steps they are taking to increase the number of homes for social rent”. The Most Revd and Rt Hon Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, asked a follow-up question:
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: My Lords, I thank my noble friend for his point about social housing delivery. He is right that it has been a challenge for successive Governments. We have delivered 79,000 social homes since 2010, which, it has to be said, is better than the numbers achieved in the previous nine years. In relation to his point about garden villages, we had previously announced 29 and last week we announced another 19. That is significant. It includes providing a special community village for dementia-friendly housing, which again is very good news, and I hope that that will also feed into the discussions that we are having about modern methods of construction.
The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, I welcome very much that last answer. In that connection I declare an interest, in that I have set up a commission to look into the housing crisis and the contribution that can be made by civil society and particularly the Churches. It comprises a former Permanent Secretary and a huge number of significant experts. One of the commission’s earliest priorities is to look at how we create communities rather than simply build houses. That means that there is a need for multipurpose community facilities and for looking at the sociological aspects as well as the mere physical construction. Will the Minister undertake to listen to the representations from that and similar inquiries over the next 18 months to two years?
From Hansard: “On 2nd July, 2019, Rt Revd Elizabeth Jane, Lord Bishop of Derby, was introduced and took the oath, supported by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York, and signed an undertaking to abide by the Code of Conduct of the House of Lords.”
She and her two sponsors, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, spoke in the Bishops’ Robing Room shortly before the introduction:
On 1st July 2019 the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care repeated a statement made by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the implementation of the NHS long-term plan. The Bishop of Carlisle, Rt Revd James Newcome, asked a follow-up question:
The Lord Bishop of Carlisle: My Lords, as a former member of the Long-Term Sustainability of the NHS Committee, I welcome the long-term plan and the Government’s response to it. I am especially glad that mental health issues will achieve financial parity with physical health issues. Does the Minister agree that research into and attention to the causes of these ever-increasing issues is as important as more spending on their treatment?
Continue reading “Bishop of Carlisle asks about funding for research into mental health”
On 1st July 2019 Lord Hunt of Kings Heath asked the Government, “what steps they will take to implement the recommendations of the Taskforce for Lung Health’s five year plan for improving lung health in England”. The Bishop of Carlisle, Rt Revd James Newcome, asked a follow-up question:
The Lord Bishop of Carlisle: My Lords, further to the Minister’s helpful comments about air quality, can she tell us to what extent Her Majesty’s Government are monitoring the existence of microparticles of plastic in the air, especially in our cities, and the impact they are having on lung health?
Continue reading “Bishop of Carlisle asks Government about air pollution and lung health in cities”
On 1st July 2019 the Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith, received a written answer from the Government in reply to questions about forced marriage:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: HL16427 To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 16 May (HL15521), how many cases were dealt with by the Forced Marriage Unit in 2018. Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks Government about forced marriage”
On 1st July 2019 the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Rt Hon Dame Caroline Spelman MP, answered a written question from Sir Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire) on lead theft from churches:
Sir Oliver Heald: 269594 To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, if the Commissioners will make an estimate of the number of thefts of lead from church buildings in (a) the diocese of St Albans and (b) England in (i) 2018 and (ii) 2019 to date.
Continue reading “Church Commissioners written answer: lead theft”
This week in the House of Lords bishops spoke on serious youth violence, and the need to scrap the ‘two-child limit’ welfare policy. They asked questions about climate change, problem gambling in the armed forces, independent living for disabled people, child refugees, higher education funding, music education, and prescription opiates. In the House of Commons the Second Church Estates Commissioner asked the Foreign Secretary about religious literacy training for diplomats, and answered a question on Commissioner landholdings in Scotland. Continue reading “Week in Westminster, 24th-28th June 2019”
On 27th June 2019 the House of Lords debated a motion from the Liberal Democrat Peer Baroness Janke, “That this House takes note of the impact of recent benefit changes on vulnerable people.” The Bishop of Chichester, Rt Revd Martin Warner, spoke in the debate:
The Lord Bishop of Chichester: My Lords, I too am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Janke, for her introduction to this important debate, which touches on a subject that is the responsibility of us all. We should acknowledge that there have been small though welcome attempts by the current Secretary of State to mitigate some of the injustices that have developed in the benefits system in recent years. But I urge that more radical remedial action is needed. In particular, urgent reconsideration is needed of the impact of the two-child limit—a policy which could eventually affect over 3 million children, pushing more than a million who are already in poverty into deeper material and emotional misery.
The introduction of the two-child limit represented a significant shift in social policy. It broke the long-standing principle, upheld by various Governments of all parties, that entitlement to benefits should be linked to need. In its place, no discernible alternative principle underlies the application of the two-child limit.
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