Bishop of St Albans asks about rates of alcoholism in the UK

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 2nd September 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government:

  • how many clinical diagnoses of alcoholism there were for men in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.
  • how many clinical diagnoses of alcoholism there were for persons aged 10–19 in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.
  •  how many clinical diagnoses of alcoholism there have been for young people aged 20–24 in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.
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Bishop of Newcastle raises potential of community sentences for reform and rehabilitation in the justice system

On 26th July 2024, the Bishop of Newcastle spoke in a debate on a report from the Justice and Home Affairs Committee, ‘Cutting crime: better community sentences (1st Report, Session 2023–24, HL Paper 27)’, on the topic of community sentences and the opportunity for reform of the justice system towards a more rehabilitative model:

The Lord Bishop of Newcastle: My Lords, I am glad to take part in this debate and I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, for enabling the report on community sentencing to be discussed in this House. It is an honour to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Prashar, and I commend her point about changing the public narrative.

I also welcome the Minister to his new role and commend his excellent maiden speech, delivered on Wednesday, for which I was pleased to be present, and the wisdom and expertise that he brings to his new role. I wish him very well indeed. I also commend him on the way he dealt with repeating a Statement from the other place and taking questions before he had delivered that maiden speech. If I may use a word borrowed from my primary field of expertise, this was a baptism-by-fire experience.

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Bishop of Chichester speaks in debate on education in the UK

The Bishop of Chichester spoke in a debate on a report from the Education for 11 to 16-year olds Committee, ‘Requires improvement: urgent change for 11–16 education (Session 2023–24, HL Paper 17)’ on 26th July 2024, welcoming the report and highlighting the importance of religious education and the Church of England’s role as an educational provider:

The Lord Bishop of Chichester: My Lords, it is an honour to follow the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, and the noble Baroness, Lady Blower, who have participated in the excellent report chaired by the group led by the noble Lord, Lord Johnson.

I welcome the priority that has been given to the review of the curriculum for 11 to 19 year-olds at an early stage of the Government coming into office. In particular, I welcome the report of the review group and how it will “refresh” the curriculum,

“build on the hard work of teachers and staff”,

and seek “evolution and not revolution”.

These are important indications that education will not be driven by ideology that leads to it becoming a political football, as sometimes has happened in the past.

In particular, the promise that the review will not

“place undue burdens on education staff”

will need to be delivered ostentatiously, particularly if the Government wish to improve the recruitment and retention of top-quality teachers. To that end, I greatly welcome also the acknowledgement of

“the innovation and professionalism of teachers”.

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King’s Speech Debate: Bishop of Worcester makes valedictory speech on the topic of international development

The Bishop of Worcester gave his valedictory speech on issues facing the field of international development, in particular the problem of debt, during the Kings Speech Debate on 25th July 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Worcester: My Lords, I join others in welcoming the Ministers to the Front Bench and begin this valedictory speech by saying what a privilege it has been to serve in your Lordships’ House for the last 12 years. I thank all noble Lords and staff on the estate for all they do and their hard work.

After my maiden speech, a fellow Peer asked me how it had gone. “Oh, they were very nice and kind”, I responded. “Yes”, he retorted; “I have never known a place where courtesy is used as such an effective weapon”. I have experienced much unweaponised courtesy and civility here. I have consistently encountered humanity at its best, and I thank your Lordships, whatever their political affiliation, for their impressive devotion to the common good.

In this final intervention, I will concentrate my brief remarks on development issues, which have been a passion of mine throughout my adult life. While I recognise the imperative for defence spending and the need to be ready for war, I hope that the Government will pay equal attention to development, which is an indispensable contributor to peace and human flourishing.

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King’s Speech Debate: Bishop of Winchester urges “faith literate” approach to foreign affairs

The Bishop of Winchester gave a speech on the topic of freedom of religion and belief during the King’s Speech debate on 25th July 2024, encouraging the government to take “a faith literate approach to foreign affairs”:

The Lord Bishop of Winchester: My Lords, I am grateful for the noble Baroness’s remarks at the start and am pleased that the Government have expressed a desire to reset the UK’s international relations. If the UK is to exercise the soft power that we undoubtedly might, not least through proper investment in the BBC World Service, it is vital that we are as fully engaged internationally as we can be. In that regard, I stress the vital importance of freedom of religion or belief—or FoRB for short, because it is a mouthful—in today’s world. It is a vital human right, and its increasing abuse is a growing global threat.

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King’s Speech Debates: Archbishop of Canterbury stresses importance of engaging with faith groups in international affairs

During the King’s Speech Debate on 25th July 2024, the Archbishop of Canterbury gave a speech on foreign affairs and international relations, emphasising the importance of engaging with faith groups:

The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: My Lords, I join noble Lords in congratulating the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, and the noble Baroness, Lady Anderson, on their appointments and on their party’s first King’s Speech. As a successor to the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, the noble Baroness has a very hard act to follow indeed, as I am sure the whole House will recognise. I also congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Goldie, on her remarkable meal, which, as I missed breakfast, may result in me leaving quickly to have lunch—but it will not be as good.

As others have indicated, we are living in unstable times. The Anglican Communion, in 165 countries, finds almost half our members facing conflict. Issues elsewhere in the world, however, do not confine themselves to affecting us in our international policy alone. We are recognised now by the United Nations as the most diverse nation on earth. That means that every single overseas conflict or disaster has a diaspora community here. To build a cohesive society here, domestic and foreign policy must work hand in glove.

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King’s Speech Debate: Bishop of Manchester welcomes focus on communities and accountability

The Bishop of Manchester spoke on the topic of criminal justice during the King’s speech debate on 24th July 2024, welcoming the government’s focus on community policing and policies to introduce a duty of candour for public officials:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow my former boss.

As a trustee of the Clink Charity, where we help prisoners build skills for employment in the catering industry, I too welcome the noble Lord, Lord Timpson, and congratulate him on a powerful and hopeful speech. He might wish to know that the Clink restaurant at Styal prison won the Cheshire Life restaurant of the year award earlier this week. If his team can draw my remarks to his attention, I hope he will accept an invitation to dine with me there later this year, so he can see for himself. However, as my right reverend friend the Bishop of Gloucester has spoken eloquently about prisons already, I will focus elsewhere.

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King’s Speech Debate: Bishop of Gloucester calls for new approach to justice and rehabilitation

The Bishop of Gloucester gave a speech on the topic of justice and prison reform during the Kings Speech Debate on 24th July 2024, calling for a new and joined up approach to criminal justice and rehabilitation:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Timpson, on his superb maiden speech, and I refer to my interest as stated in the register as Anglican bishop for prisons.

The gracious Speech began with the principles of

“security, fairness and opportunity for all”.

What does that mean for our criminal justice system? Much mention has been made of overcrowded prisons, an overflowing remand population and a void of rehabilitation leading to reoffending. In the past year I have convened cross-party, round-table discussions with key people in this and the other place, plus academics, those with lived experience and prison reformers. We are all agreed that we need a legislative definition of the purpose of imprisonment, and we need to improve the public’s understanding of sentencing. The concepts of punishment and vengeance are strong in the public narrative.

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Bishop of Gloucester responds to government statement on prison capacity

The Bishop of Gloucester asked a question following a government statement on prison capacity on 24th July 2024, welcoming Lord Timpson to his role as Prisons Minister and querying how the government planned to change the public perception of prisons to encourage change:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I too welcome the noble Lord, Lord Timpson—someone so brilliantly equipped for the task. I welcome this Statement and all the good sense contained in it as we lift this immediate crisis. I am all for new prison places, as long as they are not in addition to all the crumbling prison places. It was wonderful to hear him offer assurance that increased prison capacity will not become the main aim but rather, if I heard correctly, that we will have the courage to look at a whole-systems approach in a solution-focused way.

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Bishop of Manchester asks about issue of holiday hunger for children

The Bishop of Manchester asked a question on the governments plans to tackle holiday hunger for children on 24th July 2024, raising the example of church projects offering support to children and families in school holidays:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: Something like seven out of every eight local authorities now use this money to alleviate holiday hunger among our children. Can we have any hope that the Government will look at a more strategic way of helping children cope with hunger during the school holidays? Many of the churches in my diocese, and those of my right reverend friends here, are having to put on voluntary projects to support children during those periods. What can we hope for?

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