On 11th November, the House of Lords debated the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which bishops took part:
Votes: Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
Tag: Chelmsford
Border Security, Immigration and Asylum Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford tables amendment on ‘good character’ requirement
On 11th November 2025, the Bishop of Chelmsford The Bishop of Chelmsford tabled her amendment to the Border Security, Immigration and Asylum Bill which would “ensure the good character requirement is not applied contrary to the UK’s international legal obligations across a number of instruments. It also ensures that an assessment of good character may not take into account a person’s irregular entry or arrival to the UK if they were a child, and it may only be taken into account to the extent specified in guidance published and in force at the time of an adult’s irregular entry or arrival.”
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, I declare my interests as per the register. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord German, and the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, for their support as signatories and for their guidance, especially as this is the first amendment that I have sponsored to a piece of legislation. My thanks go also to the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, for rightly explaining in my absence in Committee that I have tabled this amendment because I am passionate about the issues it raises: namely, how best to include, not preclude, those with a legal right to be here—those friends, neighbours and colleagues whom we live, work and worship alongside.
The Government’s change to the good character guidance, enacted through secondary legislation with retrospective implementation, in effect makes the “how” of a person’s travel to the UK a determining factor in their character assessment, not the “why” of the reason behind their travel in pursuit of sanctuary. This is a fundamental cultural shift and introduces a factor that bears no correlation to someone’s moral character, their worth and value or the contribution they might make to British society.
Continue reading “Border Security, Immigration and Asylum Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford tables amendment on ‘good character’ requirement”Bishop of Chelmsford asks about online immigration systems
The Bishop of Chelmsford received the following written answer on 13th October 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford asked His Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 12 February (HL4531), whether the management information related to the “no recourse to public funds” condition is not available on the Atlas system for each leave to remain record.
Continue reading “Bishop of Chelmsford asks about online immigration systems”Bishop of Chelmsford asks about potential debate on implications of whole-genome sequencing of infants
The Bishop of Chelmsford asked a question on the opportunity for the House to debate the implications of whole genome-sequencing on 18th September 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: When will the House have the opportunity to debate this policy for whole-genome sequencing with all its details, given that it has such weighty and far-reaching implications for healthcare, prevention and a number of ethical issues, as we have already heard?
Continue reading “Bishop of Chelmsford asks about potential debate on implications of whole-genome sequencing of infants”Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford supports amendments on bullying and children with imprisoned parents
The Bishop of Chelmsford spoke in favour of two amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on 16th September 2025, first on introducing a duty on schools to record incidences of racism or interfaith bullying, and secondly on the commissioning of a report on improving educational attainment for children with a parent in prison:
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, I speak in support of Amendment 464 knowing that, had my right reverend friend the Bishop of Lincoln been in his place, he would very much have wanted to contribute to the debate. If passed, this amendment would introduce a duty on schools to record and report any incidents of racism or faith-based bullying on school premises.
It would also help diocesan boards of education in collating and monitoring such cases and better assisting those church schools which might benefit from support.
In preparing for this speech, I spoke to our own director of education in Chelmsford diocese, whose team oversees 139 church schools. She told me that this proposed amendment had the potential to help the board of education strengthen anti-bullying and inclusive practices in partnership with schools.
Continue reading “Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford supports amendments on bullying and children with imprisoned parents”Bishop of Chelmsford asks about family reunion asylum applications
The Bishop of Chelmsford asked a question on the effect of the pause in family reunion asylum applications on the level of channel crossings by migrants on 16th September 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, Home Office analysis of the factors that influence where people claim asylum highlights that the presence of family exerts a particularly strong effect on decisions on the ultimate country of destination. Given this finding, what assessment have the Government made of how the pause in family reunion applications might impact the level of channel crossings?
Continue reading “Bishop of Chelmsford asks about family reunion asylum applications”Bishop of Chelmsford asks about employment waiting periods for asylum seekers
The Bishop of Chelmsford received the following written answer on 23rd June 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford asked His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to reduce the waiting period before an asylum seeker with an outstanding asylum claim can access jobs on the Shortage Occupation List or the Immigration Salary List to six months.
Continue reading “Bishop of Chelmsford asks about employment waiting periods for asylum seekers”Asylum Support (Prescribed Period) Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford supports legislation
The Bishop of Chelmsford spoke in support of the Asylum Support (Prescribed Period) Bill [HL], a private member’s bill tabled by Baroness Lister of Burtersett, at committee on 13th June 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, I am pleased to support the Private Member’s Bill of the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, on asylum support and her Amendments 1 and 2, which would enable the Government to extend the move-on period according to their plans and timetable. The Bill is extraordinarily well timed, with the move-on period pilot coming to a close and the Government having recently published their White Paper entitled Restoring Control over the Immigration System. As the Government reduce the backlog of asylum applications and speed up the process times of applications, I suggest that this Bill does not impede but rather supports the Government as they seek to build a well-managed asylum system with integration back at its heart.
At Second Reading, I spoke of why 28 days was simply not enough time for an individual with newly granted refugee status to locate new accommodation, try to find employment and navigate a welfare system. This should now be regarded as indisputable, given that an individual cannot even access universal credit before five weeks have passed, that the majority of landlords will not even let a property before a first payment has come in and that setting up a bank account is proving difficult with an e-visa alone. On this latter point, I hope that the Government will consider issuing guidance to banking services.
Continue reading “Asylum Support (Prescribed Period) Bill: Bishop of Chelmsford supports legislation”Bishop of Chelmsford leads debate on British citizens held by Iran
The Bishop of Chelmsford led a debate on government progress in reducing the number of British citizens held by the Iranian regime on 27th February 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: To ask His Majesty’s Government what progress they are making to reduce the number of British citizens being held by the Iranian regime.
My Lords, I am grateful that time has been allocated to this debate and I look forward to the range of contributions, as well as to the Minister’s response.
I declare my personal interest in the subject. I come originally from Iran; I was born in the beautiful and historic city of Isfahan and I left as a teenager, with my family, following the impact of the Islamic revolution on the small Anglican Church community of which we were a part and, in particular, the attempt on my father’s life and the murder of my 24 year-old brother.
As I have said before in this Chamber, none of this has left me with ill will towards my homeland, but rather a profound sense of sadness at its current plight. I retain a deep love for Iran, its beauty and ancient civilization, and I have great respect for my fellow countryfolk, many of whom suffer in an increasingly intolerable situation or find themselves part of the growing diaspora community. I still hope one day to travel back to Iran, but for now this is not possible because of the current regime.
Continue reading “Bishop of Chelmsford leads debate on British citizens held by Iran”Bishop of Chelmsford asks about access to breakfast clubs for children with special education needs and disabilities
The Bishop of Chelmsford asked a question on ensuring children with special educational needs and disabilities can access school resources such as breakfast clubs on 27th February 2025, during following a government statement on school breakfast club provision:
The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, like many other noble Lords, I welcome this Statement. How will the Government ensure that breakfast clubs will be accessible to learners with special educational needs and disabilities who may usually be supported by one-to-one staff during the school day?
Continue reading “Bishop of Chelmsford asks about access to breakfast clubs for children with special education needs and disabilities”
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