Bishop of Derby takes Church of England Measure on Pensions through the House of Lords

On the 22nd January the Bishop of Derby Lead a debate on a Church of England Measure reforming the Church Pensions system. The House of Lords considered and approved the Measure which will now move to the House of Commons.

Church of England Pensions (Amendment) Measure

Motion to Direct

Moved by The Lord Bishop of Derby

DerbyThat this House do direct that, in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919, the Church of England Pensions (Amendment) Measure be presented to Her Majesty for the Royal Assent.

The Lord Bishop of Derby: My Lords, this very short Measure makes a single change to the Church of England Pensions Measure 1997. It extends by a further seven years the period during which the Church Commissioners have power to use the capital of their general fund in order to fund their historic pension obligations. The Pensions Measure 1997 conferred the original power on the commissioners to spend capital in order to support their responsibility to pay pensions for clergy service before 1998. The original power came to an end in 2004, and has been extended twice since then, on each occasion for seven years. Continue reading “Bishop of Derby takes Church of England Measure on Pensions through the House of Lords”

Bishop of Derby takes Church of England Measure on PCC Property through House of Lords

DerbyOn the 22nd January 2015 the Bishop of Derby lead a debate on a Church of England Measure reforming the way a Parochial Church Council can manage their properties. The House considered the Motion and passed the Measure which will now move for consideration in the House of Commons.

Ecclesiastical Property Measure

Motion to Direct

Moved by The Lord Bishop of Derby

That this House do direct that, in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919, the Ecclesiastical Property Measure be presented to Her Majesty for the Royal Assent.

The Lord Bishop of Derby: My Lords, this Measure makes a modest change to the statutory framework for land and property held on permanent trusts by parochial church councils. At present, legal title to all PCC land is vested in the “diocesan authority”—usually the diocesan board of finance—which holds it as trustee for the PCC, by virtue of the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956. The diocesan authority’s consent is required to all kinds of transactions, with the exception of leases for a year or less. Continue reading “Bishop of Derby takes Church of England Measure on PCC Property through House of Lords”

Bishop of Derby takes Church of England Measure through House of Lords on Simplifying Faculty Process

On 22nd January 2015 the Bishop of Derby lead the debate in the House of Lords on a Church of England Measure. The House considered a Measure which was presented for Royal Assent on the subject of simplifying the faculty process. The Measure was accepted by the House and now proceeds to the House of Commons for consideration.

Derby

Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction (Amendment) Measure

Motion to Direct

Moved by The Lord Bishop of Derby

That this House do direct that, in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919, the Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction (Amendment) Measure be presented to Her Majesty for the Royal Assent. Continue reading “Bishop of Derby takes Church of England Measure through House of Lords on Simplifying Faculty Process”

Bishop of Derby speaks on the Local Government Financial Settlement

On the 22nd January 2015 the Bishop of Derby spoke in a debate about the Local Government Financial Settlement. Bishop Alastair spoke about the need to stand back and look at what the future of local government should be. He went on to speak to the House about the work he undertakes in the Diocese to engage with local government on a variety of issues including regeneration, attracting new local business and the danger facing local government of local disengagement with politics.

DerbyThe Lord Bishop of Derby: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, for securing this debate and for his introduction to it. I also thank the noble Broness, Lady Pinnock, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Southwark, who both gave us very specific examples of some of the issues involved in this area. Continue reading “Bishop of Derby speaks on the Local Government Financial Settlement”

Bishop of Portsmouth speaks about the Local Government Finance Settlement

On the 22nd January 2015 the Bishop of Portsmouth spoke during a debate on the Local Government Finance Settlement. Bishop Christopher spoke about the issues of local welfare provision and thanked the Government for including notional provision for the continuation of local welfare provision in the current settlement. The Bishop went on to ask the Government to maintain or ring-fence the local welfare allocation to ensure that those in crisis need are helped. 

14.04.09 Portsmouth maiden speech 1The Lord Bishop of Portsmouth: My Lords, I welcome this debate on the implications and challenges of the local government settlement. On these Benches, and indeed in the whole House, we look forward to the maiden speeches of the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, and of my colleague and friend, the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Southwark. I look forward to that for many reasons, not least that he was a senior curate in the diocese that I now serve. He is the most recent in this House of a long line of able clergy nurtured and grown in the Diocese of Portsmouth. Continue reading “Bishop of Portsmouth speaks about the Local Government Finance Settlement”

Bishop of St Albans calls for improved access to the criminal justice system and victim support for vulnerable people

On January 22nd 2015, the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Dr Alan Smith, took part in a debate on improving access to the criminal justice system and victim support for people with autism spectrum disorders. The debate was precipitated by the case of Faruk Ali, a young autistic man who was attacked in Luton.

Bishop of St Albans The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness for this debate. As has already been said, Faruk Ali comes from Luton, a town in my own diocese. Quite a number of people have raised that case with me and have been concerned about what happened, so I am glad to be able to involve myself in this debate. However, I will leave it to other noble Lords to comment on the specifics of the debate—I, too, have read the media on this—as clearly it raises a number of wider problems. At an early stage I pay tribute to all those people, both professional and volunteers, who work in the statutory services and in the charitable sector, who are doing a very good job at huge personal cost and with great expertise. We need to acknowledge what they are doing and affirm it before looking at some of the problems. Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans calls for improved access to the criminal justice system and victim support for vulnerable people”

Bishop of St Albans- Child Marriage and Food Security (Written Answer)

On 21st January 2015, the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Alan Smith, received answers to written questions on the subject of milk production sustainability and data collection on child marriage.

Bishop of St AlbansThe Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure the long term sustainability of milk production in the United Kingdom. [HL3994] Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans- Child Marriage and Food Security (Written Answer)”

Bishop of Peterborough asks about the encouragement of arts and humanities for the benefit of human flourishing

On the 20th January 2015 Baroness Kidron asked her Majestiy’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that arts subjects have equal weighting in the new Progress 8 measure. The Bishop of Peterborough, the Rt Revd Donald Allister asked a supplementary question:

The 14.02 PeterboroughLord Bishop of Peterborough: My Lords, does the Minister agree that the encouragement of arts or liberal humanities subjects is for the benefit of human flourishing and is also essential for preventing the development of extremism in religion and politics, and is therefore to be positively encouraged by government?

Lord Nash: I agree entirely with the right reverend Prelate. A rich cultural education, a knowledge of history and an understanding of British values are all part of a good education and should help combat any temptation to radical ways of life.

(Via Parliament.UK)

Bishop of Durham speaks about the Counter Terrorism and Security Bill

On 20th January 2015 the Bishop of Durham spoke in support of amendment 2 in the name of Lord Rosser to the Counter Terrorism and Security Bill 2014-15 during the Bills committee stage. The amendment relates to inserting a sunset clause into the Bill which would be reviewed by Parliament after a two-year period. Following Lord Bates’s response from the Government to the amendment Lord Rosser decided to withdraw his amendment.

14.06.10 Bishop of Durham 4The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, it is worth reminding ourselves of the speed of change in the world that has led to this legislation. If these proposals had been before us even 18 months ago, I suspect that we would not even have entertained them. Therefore, the speed of change that has brought them about demands that we say that we do not wish to forgo our existing liberties, some of which would be restricted by this Act, without having recourse, in two or three years’ time, to a serious look at whether the measures are working. So I fully support the idea of a sunset clause. I am prepared to accept that two years may be rather too brief, given all the circumstances and the likelihood that we are going to live with this for some time. I would, however, encourage the House to support these amendments in some form, since I believe that the removal of our liberties that is encompassed in these clauses is so serious that we should not put them into permanent place.

Continue reading “Bishop of Durham speaks about the Counter Terrorism and Security Bill”

MPs Pass the Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill – debate transcript

Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill

House of Commons, 19th January 2015

 

Westminster-abbey3.37 pm

Allocation of Time

The Deputy Leader of the House of Commons (Tom Brake):

I beg to move,

That the following provisions shall apply to the proceedings on the Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill–

Timetable

1.- (1) Proceedings on Second Reading, in Committee, on consideration and on Third Reading shall be completed at this day’s sitting…..

The motion applies to the proceedings on the Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill. The motion timetables all stages of the Bill, guaranteeing six hours debate, with up to four hours on Second Reading and a further two hours for Committee and remaining stages.

This is a short, single-issue Bill that the Government have introduced in response to the recent decision by the Church of England to allow women to be consecrated as bishops. The provisions will fast-track female diocesan bishops in the House of Lords, as current legislation will otherwise mean it would be many years before female bishops could take seats on the Lords Spiritual Benches.

More will be said about the detail of the provisions and the necessity for this legislation when we come to debating the Bill itself. This is an important Bill, strongly supported by both the Government and the Church, and it has broad support across the House. It is a tightly focused Bill with only one substantive clause, and it is for that reason that the motion allocates six hours for debate. I commend the motion to the House. Continue reading “MPs Pass the Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill – debate transcript”