Tag: Leicester

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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Bishop of Leicester asks about the UK Inter-Faith Network

The Bishop of Leicester received the following written answer on 14th June 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the value of the Inter-Faith Network, and (2) the risks of withdrawing funding from the Network.

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Bishop of Leicester asks about management of the UK asylum system

The Bishop of Leicester received the following written answers on 27th March 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the cost of using and converting (1) RAF Scampton, (2) MDP Wethersfield, (3) the Northeye site, and (4) the Bibby Stockholm barge for asylum-seeker accommodation; and what assessment they have made of the value of the contracts to the agencies managing these sites.

Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con, Home Office): The United Kingdom has a legal obligation to provide asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute with accommodation and other support whilst their claim for asylum is being considered.

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Bishop of Leicester speaks in debate on the need to provide more supported housing

On 30th March 2023, the House of Lords debated the need for more supported housing resources. The Bishop of Leicester spoke in the debate, highlighting the benefits of supported housing in reducing homelessness and referencing the work of local services in Leicester diocese:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for securing this debate and bringing to the Committee’s attention the excellent report by Imogen Blood and the University of York for the National Housing Federation.

I would like to use this opportunity to highlight in particular the work of one organisation in Leicester, with which I have had the privilege of working. I will highlight some of the points made in the aforementioned report and also in Homeful, a report by Professor Jo Richardson of De Montfort University in Leicester.

For several years, One Roof Leicester operated a night shelter, providing emergency accommodation for those who would otherwise be sleeping rough. Indeed, it was credited as running the first interfaith night shelter in the UK; for three months, it rotated between multiple places of worship. It then began to offer supported housing for people experiencing homelessness, and the outcomes have been so positive that it has now moved over fully to that model.

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