Tag: Leicester

Bishop of Leicester asks about flexible work for unpaid carers

The Bishop of Leicester asked a question on the need for unpaid carers to have flexibility in their paid work on 12th March 2024, during a discussion on the development of a new national care strategy:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester: The Archbishops’ Commission on Reimagining Care, based on conversations with many unpaid carers, recommended that there should be a “New Deal” for carers including restorative breaks, financial support and support from employers, including paid leave and the right to request flexibility. Does the Minister agree that any future national care strategy should consider the need for unpaid carers to have flexibility in their paid work?

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Bishop of Leicester asks about impact of the two-child benefit limit

The Bishop of Leicester asked a question on the impact of the two-child limit on families receiving child benefit payments on 11th March 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester: My Lords, there is strong evidence that in the early 2000s increases in child benefits led to an increase in the amount parents spent on fruit and vegetables and books and toys for their children. What assessment have the Government made of the impact of the two-child limit on benefits and, in particular, on the health and well-being of the 1.5 million children affected?

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Bishop of Leicester asks about difficulties involved in sending money to refugees in Sudan

The Bishop of Leicester asked a question about the difficulties involved transferring funds to Sudan to aid displaced refugees, in particular the Sudanese Archbishop of Khartoum, on 29th February 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester: My Lords, the Archbishop of Khartoum has been forced to leave his home, along with his family and many of his people; they are now living in exile in Port Sudan. The Church of England dioceses with links to Sudan have tried to transfer funds to support the archbishop and his people, only to discover that banks are either unwilling or unable to transfer funds to Sudan. What assessment have the Government made of the banks’ willingness or ability to transfer funds in support of people who are suffering so terribly?

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Bishop of Leicester calls for reconsideration of debt to help developing nations combat climate change

The Bishop of Leicester spoke in a debate on the impact of climate change on developing nations on 11th January 2024, highlighting the relationship between debt and dealing with climate change:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester: My Lords, I too am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, for the opportunity to debate this hugely significant subject. I too am looking forward to the maiden speech by my right reverend friend the Bishop of Winchester, who has real expertise in this area.

When it comes to thinking about the impact of climate change on developing nations, the injustices at play are twofold. First is the fact that those nations that are being and will yet be most affected by climate change are those that have contributed least to the crisis. Secondly, much of the funds that fuelled our Industrial Revolution, wherein were sown the seeds of climate change, were generated by extracting and exploiting the resources of many of those regions, most devastatingly, of course, through the transatlantic chattel slave trade.

Our moral debt is as great as the climate emergency we face, so I was pleased to see that the Government’s international development White Paper, published in November, included “tackling climate change” in its title. I was also most encouraged to read the Government advocating for a move away from donor-recipient models of aid towards partnerships built on mutual respect, putting greater value on the voice, perspectives and needs of developing nations, as well as supporting local leadership. The paper hearteningly states:

“We will engage with humility and acknowledge our past”.

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Bishop of Leicester asks about unaccompanied asylum-seeking children

The Bishop of Leicester received the following written answers on 10th January 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester asked His Majesty’s Government whether they have made a decision about whether the power under the Illegal Migration Act 2023 for the Home Office to accommodate children will come into force; and if so, when.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The Illegal Migration Act received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023. The Act seeks to ensure the only way to come to the UK for protection will be through safe and legal routes and will take power out of the hands of the criminal gangs and protect vulnerable people, including children.

Following the High Court ECPAT judgment and Supreme Court judgment on Rwanda, the Government is carefully reflecting on commencement of the powers in the Act, including those relating to the accommodation and transfer of unaccompanied children.

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Bishop of Leicester asks about complaints to the Health & Care Professionals Council

The Bishop of Leicester received the following written answer on 27th November 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester asked is Majesty’s Government how many complaints the Health and Care Professionals Council has received since 2020 regarding professionals under their regulation providing evidence of parental alienation in court cases.

Lord Markham (Con, DHSC): The Department does not hold the information requested. As the independent regulator of 15 health and care professions, the Health and Care Professions Council is responsible for receiving and handling complaints about practitioners on its register.

Hansard

Bishop of Leicester asks about school attendance

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

The Lord Bishop of Leicester asked His Majesty’s Government what the school attendance rates are in (1) Leicester, (2) Leicestershire, and (3) nationally, broken down in each case by (a) primary, (b) secondary, and (c) special schools; and how these rates have changed since 2019.

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Bishop of Leicester asks about family courts

The Bishop of Leicester received the following written answers on 17th October 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester asked when they expect to publish a response to the report by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner The Family Court and domestic abuse: achieving cultural change, published on 17 July.

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Bishop of Leicester asks about report on UK Government Asylum and Protection Transformation Programme

The Bishop of Leicester received the following written answer on Thursday 21st September 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Leicester asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the National Audit Office’s report on the Government’s Asylum and Protection Transformation Programme.

Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con, Home Office): The NAO report into the Asylum & Protection Transformation Programme fully recognises the significance of the transformation programme, and the efforts of the Home Office to reform the asylum and protection system.

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Bishop of Leicester asks about long-term strategy for supporting interfaith relations in UK

The Bishop of Leicester spoke in a debate on the Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain and what steps the UK the government will take to ensure the success of the Accords on 14th September 2023, emphasising the need for supporting communication between faith communities in the UK as well as abroad:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester: My Lords, I add my thanks to the noble Lord, Lord Polak, for securing this short debate and my admiration and gratitude to all those who have supported and championed the Abraham accords all across the Middle East and beyond. They are truly an historic achievement, and I applaud the courage of all those who seek to bring peace to this long-troubled region. I add my thoughts and indeed prayers for the people of Morocco as well.

Noble Lords have already mentioned a number of reasons for why the accords are so significant for the region as well as for the UK. I wish to add to this debate my observation that, at the same time as supporting peace efforts in the Middle East itself, we must be proactive in addressing the tensions which conflict in the Middle East can cause here in the UK. We saw an example of this during the May 2021 Gaza conflict, when there was a steep increase in hate crimes committed against both Muslims and Jews in this country. We cannot presume, therefore, that peaceful coexistence between Jewish and Muslim communities will come about automatically in the UK simply because we are at a geographical remove from the Middle East. It is by no means impossible, but it does not come of its own accord.

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