Child Protection – Page 2 – The Church of England in Parliament

Online Safety Bill: Bishop of Manchester highlights need for regulatory cooperation and importance of child protection

On 1st February 2023, the Bishop of Manchester spoke in a debate on the Online Safety Bill in its second reading, encouraging the government to introduce a duty to cooperate for regulators, and highlighting issues of child protection:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, that is not an easy speech to follow, but I begin by declaring my interest as a Church Commissioner, as set out in the register. We have substantial holdings in many of the big tech companies. I am also vice-chair of the Church of England Ethical Investment Advisory Group. I commend the attention of noble Lords to our recent report on big tech that was published last September. There, we set out five core principles that we believe should guide our investment in and engagement with big tech companies: flourishing as persons, flourishing in relationships, standing with the marginalised, caring for creation and serving the common good. If we apply those principles to our scrutiny of this Bill, we will not only improve lives but save lives.

I will focus my remaining remarks on three areas. First, as the noble Baroness, Lady Merron, and the noble Lord, Lord McNally, have noted, the powers granted to the Secretary of State to direct Ofcom on its codes of practice and provide tactical and strategic guidance put Ofcom’s independence at risk. While I recognise that the Government have sought to address these concerns, more is required—Clauses 39 and 157 are not fit for purpose in their present form. We also need clear safeguards and parliamentary scrutiny for Secretary of State powers in the Bill that will allow them to direct Ofcom to direct companies in whatever we mean by “special circumstances”. Maintaining Ofcom’s autonomy in decision-making is critical to preserving freedom of expression more broadly. While the pace of technological innovation sometimes requires very timely response, the Bill places far too much power in the hands of the Secretary of State.

Online Safety Bill: Bishop of Durham stresses importance of child protection

On 7th November 2022, the House of Lords debated a private notice question from Baroness Kidron concerning the passage of the Online Safety Bill, as to whether the bill would be brought forward and passed during this parliamentary session. The Bishop of Durham asked a follow up question:

The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, this seems a classic example of the people we want to protect not getting a voice. Five years’ worth of children have been damaged because of the lack of this. Please can we and the business managers put the children first?

Bishop of Leeds asks about the difficulties of challenging the police

The Bishop of Leeds asked a question about the difficulty of saying “No” to the police on 22nd October 2022, during a debate on an incident 2020 in which the Metropolitan Police had strip-searched a schoolgirl in Hackney:

The Lord Bishop of Leeds: My Lords, there is an underlying question here that came up in the Sarah Everard case: how do you say no to the police? What do the Government plan to do to encourage and support schools and public authorities in addressing that question?

Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishops of Gloucester & Derby support updated statutory definition of child criminal exploitation

On 12th January 2022, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The Bishop of Gloucester, on behalf of the Bishop of Derby, spoke in support of an amendment tabled by Lord Rosser which would introduce a new statutory definition of child criminal exploitation:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I speak in place of my right reverend friend the Bishop of Derby, who sadly cannot be here today. She and I support this amendment, to which she has added her name. I declare her interest as vice-chair of the Children’s Society. These are her words.

Bishop of Durham asks about the UK asylum system

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 8th December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government how many children are currently waiting for a decision on their asylum application and have waited for over six months.

Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con): The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release, which can be found on go.uk. Data on the number of people awaiting a decision on an asylum application are published in table ASY_D03 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’, which can be found attached. Age breakdowns are not available in the published data.

Bishop of Durham asks about cases of missing child refugees

The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 7th December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government:

how many missing persons cases of child refugees have been issued in 2021.
what records they keep of the number of child refugees who go missing in the UK.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Safeguarding procedures are in place to ensure children in temporary accommodation are safe and supported until a permanent place can be found with a local authority.

Bishop of Oxford supports Age Assurance (Minimum Standards) Bill

On 19th November 2021, the House of Lords debated the Age Assurance (Minimum Standards) Bill in its second reading. The Bill, tabled by Baroness Kidron, would require Ofcom to produce a code of conduct setting out minimum standards for any system of age assurance, with the aim of protecting children from exploitation and harmful online content. The Bishop of Oxford spoke in support of the bill:

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: My Lords, it is a real pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Russell, and indeed every other noble Lord who has spoken in this debate. It has been extraordinary and very moving. I join other noble Lords in congratulating the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, on securing this Second Reading and on her passionate and brilliant opening speech. With others, I thank and commend her for her tireless commitment to protecting children online. That she does so with such consistent grace and good humour, against the backdrop of glacially slow progress and revelations about both the variety and scale of harms to children, is no small achievement in itself.

Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Durham backs amendments to safeguard children involved in serious violence on behalf of the Bishop of Manchester

On 20th October 2021, during a debate on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, the Bishop of Durham spoke in support of amendments intended to increase safeguarding efforts relating to children involved in serious violence, on behalf of the Bishop of Manchester:

The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Manchester was in his place earlier but has had to go elsewhere for the evening. He has asked me to speak on his behalf on the amendments in this group tabled in his name alongside those of the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, and the noble Baroness, Lady Jones. I thank the Children’s Society and Barnardo’s for their support and helpful briefings.

The Church has a particular concern for vulnerable children. As far as the Church of England is concerned, there are 4,644 schools in which we educate around 1 million students. This educational commitment is combined with parish and youth worker activities that bring the Church into contact with thousands of families each year. Through the Clewer Initiative, many parishes and dioceses have worked closely on the issues of county lines and confronting the blight of modern slavery. Accordingly, we have seen at first hand and, sadly, all too frequently the terrible damage caused by serious youth violence and by the criminal exploitation of children. The latter is an especially insidious form of abuse, which one victim has described as “when someone you trusted makes you commit crime for their benefit”.

Trade Bill: Bishop of St Albans supports amendment on protection of children online

On 6th January 2021, the Bishop of St Albans spoke during a debate on the Trade Bill, supporting an amendment aimed at protecting children on online and digital platforms:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I will speak briefly in support of Amendment 23. The Government’s proposed online harms Bill will provide a welcome framework to protect the most vulnerable from exposure to dangerous content by placing the burden of responsibility on social media companies. This crucial legislation will better equip Britain to deal with the digital age.

Votes: Trade Bill

On 6th January 2021, the House of Lords debated the Trade Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:

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