The following letter, co-signed by the Bishop of Birmingham and leaders of other faiths, appeared in The Times newspaper on 6th January 2015:
Sir, This year will provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity: in September world leaders decide on new goals for sustainable development and in December a new climate treaty.
On 27th November 2014 the House of Lords debated a motion from the Crossbench Peer and former Bishop of Oxford, Lord Harries of Pentregarth, on ‘the role of religion and belief in British public life’. The Bishop of Birmingham, Rt Rev David Urquhart spoke in the debate:
The Lord Bishop of Birmingham: My Lords, I am grateful to my colleague, the noble and right reverend 
Lord, Lord Harries, for shaping this debate and for the remarks just offered by the noble Baroness. It may be a great surprise to many of our fellow citizens that public religious figures should be asked to play a part at all in 21st century society. However, the least surprised in the city of Birmingham are my interfaith colleagues. They expect the leaders and members at a local parish level and at a national level in what they regard as the indigenous national religion to play a full part in society and to articulate the needs, values and beliefs of those who have faith on things that are a matter of importance to the whole of society, whether they are faithful or not. Continue reading “Bishop of Birmingham in Lords Debate on Religion and Belief in Public Life”
On 26th November 2014, the Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Revd David Urquhart, led the debate on two amendments to the Government’s Consumer Rights Bill, during its Report Stage. The amendments,which the bishop spoke to on behalf of the Bishop of Truro, the Rt Revd Tim Thornton, sought to improve the regulation of payday loan adverstising in two ways – first, through preventing payday lenders from targeting children with advertising on television and second, through the regulation of unsolicited telephone 
calls from payday lenders. Amendment 47, related to pre-watershed advertising, was pressed to a vote by members of the House of Lords. No bishop took part in the division, and the vote was not successful. The Government did, however, state that the regulator, the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) had agreed to broaden the remit of its review into the content of payday loan advertising to consider scheduling rules. Continue reading “Bishop of Birmingham leads call for improved regulation of payday loan advertising”
On 22nd July 2014, a Government statement on Birmingham Schools was repeated in the House of Lords by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools, Lord Nash. The Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Revd David Urquhart, responded to the statement. He called for Government support of the Kershaw Report, asked for clarity on responsibility and accountability in the education system, and argued that the incident highlighted the need for greater understanding of faith and religion throughout civil society.
The Lord Bishop of Birmingham: My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for bringing the Secretary of State’s Statement to the House and for the publication of Peter Clarke’s report. As he mentioned, this goes alongside Ian Kershaw’s report, which was published on Friday, about Birmingham City Council and it has the support of the Birmingham Trojan horse review group, of which I am a member. That group has published its own, wider recommendations in this complex and troubling period. Does the Minister agree that both reports are thorough and hard-hitting, and that there is much in common in their findings? Continue reading “Bishop of Birmingham responds to Government statement on ‘Trojan Horse’”
On 24th June 2014, Baroness Perry of Southwark led a short debate to ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the appropriate balance between the autonomy and the accountability of educational institutions. The Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Revd David Urquhart, took part in the debate and spoke of his involvement in the investigation of allegations of mis-management in schools in Birmingham. The Bishop told the House how autonomy and accountability have been reconciled in Birmingham through setting up a diocesan board of education trust which has published an academies accountability framework. The Bishop argued for local and trusted arrangements to be developed, which are trusted by pupils, staff and parents, by the whole community and the Secretary of State.
The Lord Bishop of Birmingham: My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to address the topic of autonomy and accountability in our educational institutions, particularly in our schools. As noble Lords can imagine, coming from Birmingham, this is a very pertinent topic. We are experiencing a perfect storm of anonymous allegations. Birmingham City Council is conducting various investigations, of which I am a part, into those allegations. Continue reading “Bishop of Birmingham takes part in debate on autonomy and accountability of educational institutions”
Lord Spicer asked Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any assessment of the future ability of United Kingdom airlines to operate out of Heathrow Airport.
The Rt Revd David Urquhart, Bishop of Birmingham, asked a supplementary question:
The Lord Bishop of Birmingham: My Lords, will the Minister take note of the increased capacity of regional airports in this country—for example, the extended runway at Birmingham? Will she encourage airline users and businesses to use these airports not only for the convenience of British travellers but also for the increased capacity and enjoyment of visitors to this country? Continue reading “Bishop of Birmingham calls for greater use of regional airports to reduce dependency on Heathrow”
Responding today to the Chancellor’s 2014 Budget statement, the Bishop of Birmingham, Rt Rev David Urquhart[1] said: 
“There is much to welcome in today’s Budget announcement, not least the news that economic growth is strengthening, the long awaited transferable tax allowance for married couples, and the new funds to help restore the fabric of some our nation’s great cathedrals.
The increasingly confident economic outlook is good news. The crucial challenge will be to ensure that the stewardship of the economy takes into account the need for those at the lower end of the income scale or at the margins of society to share fully in the proceeds of growth.
The reaffirmation by the Chancellor of our country’s commitment to spend 0.7% of our national income on overseas development assistance is an important demonstration of our national commitment to those in the greatest need. Continue reading “Bishop of Birmingham Responds to the Budget”
On Tuesday 4th February 2014, Donald Spargo, Lord Bishop of Peterborough, was introduced and took the oath, supported by the Bishop of Wakefield and the Bishop of Birmingham, and signed an undertaking to abide by the Code of Conduct.
Watch the introduction here:
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/main/Player.aspx?meetingId=14730
On 9th and 17th December 2013, a number of bishops took part in votes to amend the Government’s Children and Families Bill, during the bill’s Report Stage.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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