business – The Church of England in Parliament

Bishop of St Albans takes part in debate on access to banking for small businesses

The Bishop of St Albans spoke in a grand committee debate on access to banking for small businesses on 1st May 2025, with a particular focus on the needs of rural businesses and communities:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Sharkey, not only for securing this debate but for an interesting and informative introduction setting out a number of important matters. I declare my interests: until two weeks ago, I was president of the Rural Coalition, which is relevant to this speech; I am also a vice-president of the Local Government Association.

I will focus my remarks specifically on the challenges for small businesses in rural areas. They hold significant potential for economic growth and are critical for our economy, but they face distinct challenges around access to banking and financial services compared to urban areas. There are over 500,000 businesses registered in rural areas, and the rural economy employs around 3.8 million people, so it is important that this economy and the small businesses that make up part of it have access to the services that they need to thrive and to contribute to the Government’s growth mission.

Bishop of Bristol calls for improved accountability in business to combat modern slavery

The Bishop of Bristol took part in a debate on a report from the Modern Slavery Act 2015 Committee on 28th March 2025, advocating for improvements to corporate accountability in supply chains:

The Lord Bishop of Bristol: My Lords, I, too, speak as a member of the review committee on the Modern Slavery Act in this 10th anniversary week. It was world-leading legislation, as we have heard. I also rise in the week that the Church commemorates Harriet Monsell, founder of the Anglican Community of St John Baptist, Clewer, a community which, from its 19th century inception, had as a core vocation the care of female victims of human trafficking. That community has for several years funded training of community groups across the United Kingdom to notice the trafficked people—women, men and children—hiding in plain sight in their midst and to act on their behalf. Clewer has also produced apps, notably for car washes and nail bars, giving assurance on their labour practices and suppliers. In today’s debate, that is where I would like to focus my remarks.

I draw attention to Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act, which imposes a duty on companies supplying goods or services that have a turnover of at least £36 million to

“prepare a slavery and human trafficking statement”

every financial year. The statement should set out the steps that the business is taking to address and prevent the rise of modern slavery in its operations and supply chains. I know that some take that commitment very seriously.

Bishop of St Albans asks about potential closure of farm shops

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 25th February 2025:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of Farm Retail Association forecasts that more than 700 farm shops could close in the coming decade.

Bishop of St Albans asks about 4-day week productivity

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 11th February 2025:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the productivity of businesses where employees work a permanent four-day working week.

Bishop of St Albans asks about statutory right to use and access cash

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 12th November 2024:

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

what steps they are taking to support people who rely solely on cash (1) to access cash, and (2) to access digital banking alternatives to cash.
whether they intend to introduce a statutory right to pay for goods and services in cash; and if so, whether this would be subject to financial limits.

Bishop of St Albans asks about issue of forced labour in consumer goods market

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 11th September 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government whether they intend to take steps to prevent UK consumers from purchasing goods produced by forced labour; and what assessment they have made of (1) the decision by the government of the United States to add aluminium to its list of priority sectors for the enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act, and (2) European Commission plans to publish an online database of regions and sectors where forced labour is a risk.

Bishop of St Albans asks about impact of Tesco-Booker merger on small, independent, and rural businesses

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 9th May 2024:

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

what assessment they have made of the impact of the Tesco-Booker merger on independent shopkeepers.
whether they plan to make an assessment of the impact of the Tesco-Booker merger on rural small businesses, such as post offices and village stores.
what assessment they have made of the impact of the changes recently introduced by Booker on independent retailers.

Bishop of Hereford welcomes new fair dealing regulations for the dairy farming sector

The Bishop of Hereford spoke in a debate on the draft Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations on 25th March 2024, welcoming the new regulations and the benefits they would bring to the dairy farming sector:

The Lord Bishop of Hereford: My Lords, I applaud His Majesty’s Government for these new contract regulations. They are both comprehensive and long overdue in addressing matters of serious injustice in the dairy farming sector. Unfair milk contracts have been an area of concern for the dairy sector for many years, going back to the voluntary code of practice for dairy contracts, introduced in 2012. In their current form, most milk contracts do not create mutually balanced business relationships between buyers and sellers. Rights and obligations are often heavily biased in favour of buyers.

Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill: Bishop of Manchester advocates for small businesses

The Bishop of Manchester spoke in a debate on the Digital Markets, Competition & Consumers Bill in the second day of the Committee stage on 24th January, stressing the need to create a proper balance between smaller and larger businesses:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I shall be extremely brief. When we debate in Grand Committee, it always strikes me that we do so in the Moses Room —Moses, the great giver of the law. However, the biblical characters that I am more thinking of today would be David fighting Goliath, because it seems to be that a lot of the conversation around this group of amendments is about how we create a proper balance between the large platforms and small entrepreneurial providers. My mother was a small businesswoman; she ran two record shops in the Greater Manchester area. We could have been put out of business very easily if somebody had been able to delay some anti-competitive business action against us. We also have the judgment of Solomon here; he was quick in his judgment—there were no lengthy processes that took for ever and a day. I tend to the view that the Bill, as it entered the House of Commons, was probably at about the sweet spot, but let us get this right so that Davids have a chance amid the Goliaths. And yes, I apologise for not declaring that interest—I am called David.

Hansard

Bishop of Sheffield asks about staff employed under “umbrella companies”

The Bishop of Sheffield received the following written answer on 26th October 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Sheffield asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the growth of umbrella companies, and (2) the ability of the staff of those companies, to demonstrate continuous service and accrue employee benefits and employment rights.

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