The Bishop of Lincoln received the following written answer on 31st March 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Lincoln asked His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to support and incentivise farmers in England to register in environmental land management schemes.
Continue reading “Bishop of Lincoln asks about support for farmers to register for land management schemes”
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 28th January 2025:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of reintroducing beavers on landscape recovery and natural flood management.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about impact of beavers on the landscape recovery and flood management”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 29th April 2024:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government:
On 18th April 2024, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following answers to MPs in the House of Commons:
Easter Church Services
Kevin Foster (Con, Torbay): To ask the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what recent assessment the Church has made of trends in the number of families that attend a church service over the Easter period.
Andrew Selous MP (Con, South West Bedfordshire): Although we do not yet have confirmed numbers of worshippers for this Easter just gone, our clergy report high attendance, among all ages, at services, which supports the post-pandemic trend of people returning to services on Easter day in person to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
Continue reading “Church Commissioners Questions: Easter Church Services, Families & Households, Abortion Legislation, Armenian Church in Jerusalem, Sale of Land, and Church Schools”
On 12th April 2024, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs:
Church Schools: Hendon
Dr Matthew Offord MP (Con, Hendon): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether he has made an assessment of the contribution of church schools in Hendon constituency.
Andrew Selous MP (Con, South West Bedfordshire): Though the National Church Institutions are not responsible for the operation of individual schools, the Diocese of London has volunteered the following information, which I hope is useful.
Continue reading “Church Commissioners Written Questions: Church Schools, Carbon Emissions, Land Use, Ceremonies, and Service Attendance”On 27th March 2024, the Bishop of Manchester spoke at the second reading of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, welcoming the legislation whilst expressing concern over its impact on those freeholders that are charities:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I begin by declaring my interests. I am no longer a church commissioner, as my time finished at the end of last year, but I am paid and—if the Lord spares me—will be pensioned by the Church Commissioners in due course. The commissioners are freeholders, not least of the Hyde Park Estate, which has been in continuous Church ownership and care since around the 11th century, when it belonged to the monks of Westminster Abbey. I guess, if I am going to echo a word that we have used several times today, that makes it genuinely feudal. I also own one leasehold flat in the West Midlands, as set out in the Members’ register.
Continue reading “Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill: Bishop of Manchester expresses concerns over changes to charity financing”The Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich asked a question on ongoing assessment of environmental land management and sustainable farming schemes during a discussion on food security on 26th March 2024:
The Lord Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich: My Lords, I indicate my interests as listed in the register and pay tribute to farmers. As the Minister has said, the priorities are food production and environmental quality, including rebuilding biodiversity, restoring clean air and water and prioritising the rebuilding of healthy soils. What ongoing assessment is being made of the current ELMS and SFI programmes to meet these aims?
Continue reading “Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich asks about environmental land management and sustainable farming initiatives”On 19th September 2023, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs:
Derelict Land
Julian Knight MP (Ind, Solihull): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church of England is taking to release brownfield sites within its Estate to the Church Housing Association to increase social housing.
Continue reading “Church Commissioners Written Questions: Land Use, Finance”On 25th July 2023, the Bishop of Carlisle gave his valedictory speech during a debate on land use in England, raising the need for sustainable development and strong communication within departments and communities:
The Lord Bishop of Carlisle: My Lords, this is a valedictory speech. I rise to deliver it with a mixture of huge gratitude and considerable sadness. The gratitude is what I feel towards so many in your Lordships’ House, both Members and staff, whose kindness, friendship and wisdom have made my 10 years here a time of great enjoyment, huge learning and constant interest. Thank you so much.
The sadness, of course, derives from the fact that this chapter of my life now comes to an end. As lead bishop on health and social care, I have had the particular privilege of getting to know a whole series of Health Ministers—all extremely gracious and accommodating— of engaging with some fascinating, and often contentious debates, especially in the area of medical ethics; and sitting on Select Committees on the sustainability of the NHS and on the future of social care. Indeed, I had been hoping to speak about social care—which is still by no means fixed—in the debate originally planned for today. That was not to be, and instead I am delighted that this topic of land use relates so very closely and immediately to that part of England in which I have lived and worked as a bishop for the last 21 years: Cumbria. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Dillington, and the Land Use in England Committee, on producing such a thorough and very judicious report.
Continue reading “Bishop of Carlisle gives valedictory speech on land use in England”The Bishop of Exeter received the following written answer on 6th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked His Majesty’s Government:
Lord Benyon (Con): Defra has previously published statistics for the amounts of land changing use during individual years from 2013 to 14 through to 2017 to 2018. The Department intends to provisionally publish similar figures for the three year period 2019 to 2022 using a revised methodology during June or July 2023, however, the figures are not detailed enough to provide the information requested.
Continue reading “Bishop of Exeter asks about land use by solar farms”
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