LOCAL Authorities – The Church of England in Parliament

Bishop of Sheffield asks about engagement between local authorities and faith groups

The Bishop of Sheffield asked a question on encouraging the use of covenants and charters to promote engagement and cooperation between faith communities and local authorities, during a discussion on use of the “advancement of religion” charitable purpose by charities on 26th November 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Sheffield: My Lords, just two weeks ago, Sheffield City Council launched its faith and belief charter—a sort of service-level agreement between local faith communities and the local authority setting out what each might expect of the other for the wider benefit of our city. The charter assumes a shared commitment to the essential dignity of every human being, as created in the image and likeness of God. Will the Minister encourage the use of such covenants and charters between faith communities and local authorities, not least on account of their capacity to challenge precisely the behaviours identified in the Question put by the noble Baroness?

Bishop of London asks about support for local authorities caring for adults with learning disabilities

The Bishop of London asked a question on support for local authorities in caring for adults with learning disabilities on 13th November 2025, during a discussion on the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review Reports:

The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, according to the learning disabilities mortality review of adults with a learning disability who died in 2023, 25.6% had a care package that did not meet their needs. We know that local authorities continue to face significant challenges to providing adult social care services. Can the Minister say what action the Government are taking to support local authorities as they respond to more complex needs to make sure that every person, including those with learning disabilities, has the correct care plan?

Bishop of St Albans asks about resourcing for local authority investigations of child abuse

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on support and resourcing for local authority investigations of child sexual abuse on 30th April 2025:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I support the idea of having local inquiries, but some local authorities do not wish to have an inquiry. What will His Majesty’s Government do about that? Secondly, is the Minister convinced that these local authorities, some of which are financially challenged, have the resources to undertake this important work?

Bishop of Oxford asks about accommodation for refugees and asylum seekers

The Bishop of Oxford asked a question on identifying suitable accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees on Tuesday 22nd April 2025, during a discussion on the costs of temporary accommodation provided by local authorities:

The Lord Bishop of Oxford: My Lords, I declare an interest as patron of Asylum Welcome, which works with asylum seekers and refugees in Oxford and Oxfordshire. What proportion of temporary accommodation provided by local authorities is used to house refugees who are assessed as priority need after having been granted refugee status? What steps are being taken to identify more suitable long-term accommodation for this cohort?

Bishop of Norwich asks about services for children with special educational needs

The Bishop of Norwich received the following written answer on 6th January 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Norwich asked His Majesty’s Government:

what assessment they have made of the safety valve agreement, and of its impact in the local authorities where such agreements have been made.
what assessment they have made of the impact on the most vulnerable pupils with special educational needs in local authorities where a safety valve agreement has been made; and how they propose to minimise this impact.

Bishop of St Albans asks about local government finance in rural areas

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 15th May 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government:

what assessment they have made of the adequacy of core funding for delivering rural services; and what plans they have to create equitable funding between rural and urban councils.
what consideration they have given to extending the Rural Services Delivery Grant to all rural councils in future years.
whether they plan to fully implement the changes to the Needs Assessment component of the funding formula made in 2013; and subsequently whether they will increase funding to rural councils to reflect inflation in the years since these changes were made.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con, DLUHC): The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2024-25 makes available up to £64.7 billion, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £4.5 billion or 7.5% in cash terms on 2023-24. This above-inflation increase demonstrates how the Government stands behind councils up and down the country. Furthermore, we recognise the importance and difficulties of councils serving dispersed populations. That is why we have increased the value of the Rural Services Delivery Grant by over 15%, from £95 million to £110 million in 2024-25. This is the highest increase since 2018-19, and the second successive year of above-inflation increases.

We last calculated the Settlement Funding Assessment in 2013/14. The Government is committed to reforming the local government funding landscape in the next Parliament to deliver simpler, fairer and longer settlements.

The Rural Services Delivery Grant is allocated to local authorities ranking in the top-quartile of sparsely populated areas in England, using the Government’s ‘Super Sparsity’ measure. The methodology is unchanged from 2023-24 and any funding decisions beyond the 2024-25 financial year are a matter for the next Spending Review.

Hansard

Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Manchester tables amendments on support services for victims of crime

On 23rd April 2024, the House of Lords debated the Victims and Prisoners Bill. The Bishop of Manchester spoke in support for his amendments 60, 64, and 70 to be the bill, which focus on establishing support services for victims of crime:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I will speak to my Amendments 60, 64 and 70, which echo amendments on support services for victims that I tabled in Committee. I am grateful to the Minister for his responses at that stage and for his kindness in meeting me and representatives of Refuge and Women’s Aid in the interim. In light of those conversations, it is not my intention to press any of these amendments to a Division today. However, I hope that, in this debate and in the Minister’s response to it, we can clarify a little further how His Majesty’s Government will seek to ensure that victims across the country have access to quality support services provided by organisations that hold their confidence and understand their specific circumstances. As we are now on Report, I will not repeat the detailed arguments of Committee, but I think their force still stands.

Amendment 60 places a duty on the Secretary of State to define in statutory guidance

“the full breadth of specialist community-based support domestic abuse services”.

Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham speaks on importance of funding for local authorities to support and provide for children in their care

On 18th April 2024, Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham also spoke in the debate on children in local authority care in the UK, on themes of early intervention and support for foster carers, and the need for more funding for local authorities to ensure this:

The Lord Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham: My Lords, I too am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Laming, for bringing this important debate forward and for the very compelling case that he set out in his introduction. I am also grateful for the immensely valuable contributions made by other Members.

It is surely one of the primary tests of a civil society that, where it is necessary for a child or young person to be brought into care, the very best outcomes are made possible through the quality and consistency of that care, whatever financial constraints arise in the economic cycle. So many outcomes later in life are directly related to childhood experience. That is why it should be an all-party commitment that money for children’s services should be ring-fenced, including those that enable vital early help and intervention, as the noble Lord, Lord Laming, the noble Baroness, Lady Benjamin, and other noble Lords expressed so well.

Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich asks about county council funding

The Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich asked a question on 14th February 2024 concerning the issue of funding for county councils, drawing on an example from Suffolk County Council and stressing the need for advance communication of finances to allow for forward planning:

The Lord Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich: My Lords, may I return to the issue of reforming the model? I have recently been caught up in discussions with Suffolk County Council about funding cuts it was making to its arts programmes. That drew me into detailed discussions about what its priorities were and the challenges it was facing. It said that two things would make a huge difference. The first was knowing further in advance what it might receive; it was looking for a three-year projection. The second was for the groundwork for the reform to which the Minister has been referring to be done now, rather than in the future.

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