The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 5th June 2025:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Water Quality Monitoring Network Annual Report 2023/24 published by the Angling Trust on 20 May.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about report on water quality in the UK”On 4th June 2025, the House of Lords debated the Data (Use and Access Bill). Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
On 4th June 2025, the House of Lords debated the Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which a bishop took part:
On 4th June 2025, the Bishop of Gloucester tabled her amendment to the Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill, which would “seek to ensure that existing sentencing guidelines relating to the mitigating factor of “pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal care” can continue to provide directions for courts to obtain pre-sentence reports for offenders who are pregnant or are primary carers of young children.”
The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, like other noble Lords, I have already registered my feelings about the Bill at Second Reading and in Committee. Now that we have had the publication of the Independent Sentencing Review and the Government’s response, I reiterate the point that, like others, I simply do not believe that we need this legislation. It seems that the left hand is not aware of the right hand on the evidence around sentencing.
I agree with what has been said already. Amendment 8, in my name, seeks something very specific: to ensure that existing sentencing guidelines relating to the mitigating factor of pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal care can continue to provide directions for courts to obtain pre-sentence reports for offenders who are pregnant or primary carers of young children. Without this amendment, the Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill directly contradicts the Government’s stated policy intent to reduce the imprisonment of pregnant women and mothers of young children.
Continue reading “Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill: Bishop of Gloucester tables amendment on pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal care”The Bishop of Gloucester asked a question on the links between events in Gaza and in the West Bank, and the broader issue of Israeli treatment of Palestinians, during a discussion on provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza on 4th June 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I too declare an interest, having just returned from Israel/Palestine last week. As we talk about humanitarian aid, does the Minister agree that the horrors we are now seeing in Gaza cannot and should not be separated from the tensions and conflicts in the West Bank, and that what we are seeing across the whole of the Occupied Palestinian Territories of Gaza, east Jerusalem and the West Bank are all part of one and the same thing —a diminishing of human dignity and equality, a dispossession of land and identity, and a violation by the Israeli Government of the right of Palestinian people to self-determination?
Continue reading “Bishop of Gloucester asks about events in Gaza and the West Bank”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 4th June 2025:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the statement by the UN special rapporteur Thomas Andrews on 15 May regarding allegations that Rohingya refugees were forced off an Indian naval vessel.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about treatment of Rohingya refugees by Indian navy”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 4th June 2025:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to tackle the illegal wildlife trade; and what assessment they have made of the links between the illegal wildlife trade and financial crime.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about impacts of the illegal wildlife trade”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 3rd June 2025:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to give local government new powers to prevent adult gaming centres from opening.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about prevention of new gaming centres from opening”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 3rd June 2025:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many Government cybersecurity roles are (1) vacant, and (2) filled by contractors.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about government cybersecurity roles”
The Bishop of Southwark spoke at the second reading of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill on 2nd June 2025, pointing out the need for resources involved in managing the immigration and asylum system, and the potential effects of further hard line approaches to immigration enforcement:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark: My Lords, the diocese in which I serve covers one of the most diverse parts of the country. Indeed, arguably, south London is one of the most ethnically diverse places in the world. This diversity is often represented in our churches, which have benefited, as has the rest of the country, from the great human fact of migration. It would be good to hear some recognition of this in government and Home Office statements.
It is worth stressing that the vast majority of migrants to this country come here properly under the Immigration Rules, and thus there is no proper sense in which their arrival and settlement can be described as uncontrolled. The Government of the day may, for good reasons of public policy, wish to alter the rules or introduce fresh primary legislation, but that does not mean that a system and process is not in place, that applications are not assessed and fees paid, and that the results do not match what Parliament has sanctioned.
Continue reading “Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill: Bishop of Southwark speaks at second reading”
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