The Church of England in Parliament

Education (Values of British Citizenship) Bill: Bishop of Sheffield speaks in support of legislation

On 18th October 2024, the Bishop of Sheffield spoke at the second reading of the Education (Values of British Citizenship) Bill, a private members bill tabled by Lord Harries of Pentregarth, supporting the bill and welcoming provision to improve provision for education on religion and the environment:

The Lord Bishop of Sheffield: My Lords, I too congratulate the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Harries, on bringing forward this Private Member’s Bill, and indeed on the many years of thinking and hard work which have brought the Bill to this point. I welcome the Bill, support its aims and heartily welcome the five specific headings, which together give some definition of what is meant by “British values” in an educational context.

Especially in an educational context, it will be vital to foster a culture in which these headline categories are inhabited in a meaningful way. This kind of culture is capable of being fostered as much in the teaching of maths and science as through the teaching of citizenship, PSHE or RE, but these latter subjects provide an opportunity for values to be addressed directly and explicitly. I shall say something further about RE in particular, but the list of values identified in the Bill includes respect for the environment, and I would also like to say something about the potential for a natural history GSCE.

Bishop of Norwich asks about biodiversity strategy

The Bishop of Norwich received the following written answer on 18th October 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Norwich asked His Majesty’s Government whether they plan to publish the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, in accordance with the commitment of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference Canada in 2022, before COP 16 starts in Colombia on 21 October.

Bishop of Sheffield speaks in debate on 40th anniversary of famine in Ethiopia

The Bishop of Sheffield spoke in a debate commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1984 famine in Ethiopia, stressing the need to act to prevent famines and similar crises before they occur:

The Lord Bishop of Sheffield: My Lords, I too am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Featherstone, for securing this important debate and for the opportunity to contribute to it.

I remember 1984 very vividly. That summer, I graduated from university and got married, and early that autumn, I began training for ordained ministry. I have clear memories of the powerful BBC news coverage of the Ethiopian famine—which, as the noble Baroness reminded us, was broadcast exactly 40 years ago this month—and of the Band Aid Christmas single that year and the Live Aid concerts of 1985. Those events were all quite formative for me.

In retrospect, our crowd-sourced responses to the famine in 1984 were naive, not least in treating the famine as simply a natural disaster and in failing to take into account the human factors that contributed to it, including both the global climate emergency, or global warming as we were just beginning to call it then, and the more local political and military practices. Although we may have learned a good deal in the past 40 years, and although we may be significantly more sophisticated now in our analysis of the causes of famine in that part of the world, it is evident that we are barely more effective at responding to it, let alone at preventing it. Both those aims are urgent: we need to respond effectively to the current crisis, and we need to improve our capacity to anticipate and therefore to forestall future famines.

Bishop of Leicester speaks in debate on sustainable development

The Bishop of Leicester took part in a debate on global conflict and the UN sustainable development goals on 17th October 2024, raising the need for increased understanding and cooperation across faith groups and communities:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester: My Lords, I too am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, for securing this debate in advance of the Budget, which is due to be delivered in a fortnight’s time. Undoubtedly, that Budget will involve difficult decisions and sacrifices. It is easy to lose sight of how very fortunate we are as a nation when compared with many others around the world.

As noble Lords have mentioned, the UN has warned that progress towards the sustainable development goals has ground to a halt and in some cases been reversed. Over the last year, the prospect of achieving the 16th sustainable development goal of

“peaceful and inclusive societies”

for sustainable development, and

“access to justice for all”

has seemed even further out of reach as war in the Middle East has become broader and deeper, and multiple conflicts in Africa have also worsened.

Church Commissioners Questions: Rural Communities, Former Church Sites, Access to Places of Worship, Independent Safeguarding Board Review, Recognition of Positive Impact, Interfaith Understanding, Ordination of Women: 30th Anniversary, Restoration Funding,

On 17th October 2024, Marsha de Cordova MP, the Second Church Estates Commissioner, gave the following answers to questions from MPs:

Small Rural Communities

Ms Julie Minns MP (Lab, Carlisle) asked: What steps the Church of England is taking to support parish life in small rural communities.

Bishop of Sheffield asks about tackling regional inequalities in education

The Bishop of Sheffield asked a question on government plans to tackle regional inequalities in education outcomes on 17th October 2024, during a discussion on equality of opportunity in the education sector:

The Lord Bishop of Sheffield: My Lords, according to data published by the Education Policy Institute, disadvantaged learners in Yorkshire and the Humber are typically 21.4 months behind their more advantaged learners by the end of secondary school. This is opposed to a disadvantage gap of half that size, at just 10.4 months, in London. What steps will the Government take to reduce such perniciously stubborn regional inequalities in educational outcomes?

Bishop of St Albans asks about impact of removing VAT on defibrillators

On 17th October 2024, the Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact that removing VAT on defibrillators would have on the national rollout effort.

Bishop of Oxford urges government to commit to accelerating transition to electric vehicles

On 16th October 2024, the Bishop of Oxford took part in a debate on a report from the Environment and Climate Change Committee EV strategy: rapid recharge needed, urging the government to work to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles and to ensure parity and fairness in the emerging sector:

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: My Lords, I too warmly welcome this debate as a member of the committee that produced the report. I pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, for her introduction to the debate and her very careful, wise and gracious—and patient—leadership of the committee in its first three years.

My experience of serving on the ECC Committee across the three years was that each of the challenges we addressed proved to be both more significant and more complex than we first appreciated. It was a tremendous learning curve. Each issue had multiple questions and problems associated with it and needed complex solutions. That was clearly the case with the EV report before the House today.

Some very good work has been done by the previous Government, manufacturers and local authorities, but much more needs to be done—and urgently—to keep this transition on track. I would highlight that need for urgency in the transition. As the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, has just said, the effects of climate change across the world are accelerating, as all of us in this Chamber recognise, often affecting those who have least, who are least resilient and whose emissions in the present and in the past have been lowest across the world.

Bishop of Norwich asks about provision of healthcare supplies into Gaza

The Bishop of Norwich asked a question on ensuring provision of supplies to Gaza’s al-Ahli Hospital on 16th October 2024, following a government statement on the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Lebanon:

The Lord Bishop of Norwich: My Lords, just over a year ago I was in Gaza, three days before Hamas’s evil attacks, visiting the Anglican-run al-Ahli hospital. Today that hospital is the only functioning hospital in northern Gaza, but it is weeks since it has been supplied. What are His Majesty’s Government doing to ensure that healthcare supplies are getting into Gaza and in particular that al-Ahli hospital, which is doing the incredible work of healing, is supplied?

Bishop of Sheffield asks about risks of changes to marriage celebrant legislation

On 16th October 2024, the Bishop of Sheffield asked a question on the potential risks of changes to laws around marriage celebrants undermining the solemn nature of marriage:

The Lord Bishop of Sheffield: My Lords, on these Benches we would welcome humanist wedding ceremonies being given legal status, but the recommendations of the Law Commission go beyond that and would create a free market celebrant-based approach to the wedding industry. I gather that Humanists UK shares our concern that such a move could undermine the solemn nature of marriage, which is never a trivial transaction. Given this unlikely alliance between the Lords spiritual and Humanists UK, can the Minister confirm that the Government will not enact the recommendations of the Law Commission without considering carefully the impact of a further commercialisation of weddings?

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