manchester – Page 13 – The Church of England in Parliament

Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Manchester welcomes focus on victims and opportunity for clarified legislation

On 18th December 2023, the Bishop of Manchester spoke in a debate on the second reading of the Victims & Prisoners Bill, applauding the focus on victims and welcoming the bill as an opportunity for clarity of legislation and statutory instruments:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I am grateful to His Majesty’s Government for introducing this Bill. I am also grateful that shortly we will hear a maiden speech from the noble Lord, Lord Carter of Haslemere. His long experience of the law and the Civil Service will serve your Lordships’ House well. I look forward to his remarks today and on many future occasions.

I also welcome the focus on victims that lies at the heart of the Bill. As we have just heard, it builds on the report of my right reverend friend Bishop James Jones, a former Member of your Lordships’ House, into the Hillsborough tragedy. I was a young member of the clergy called into the stadium to support bereaved families. I will never forget the sight of iron barriers twisted out of shape by the pressure of human bodies being crushed against them. Hence I warmly commend the proposal for independent public advocates in cases such as that and the Manchester Arena attack, to which the Minister referred in his opening remarks—I thank him for doing so. As Bishop of Manchester, it fell to me to help lead my city’s response to the brutal murder of 22 people and the injuring and traumatising of hundreds of others.

Bishop of Manchester asks about support for those struggling to obtain mortgages on properties

The Bishop of Manchester asked a question on support for those unable to obtain mortgages for apartments due to issues of building safety, and tackling this barrier to home ownership, on 6th December 2023, during a discussion on falling rates of owner-occupation among people aged 25-34:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, in cities such as mine of Manchester and Salford, in terms of home ownership, many people in this age group aspire to an apartment yet, however many years we are on from the Grenfell fire disaster, too many properties still remain unmortgageable. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Greenhalgh, for the support he has given to campaigners over the years, yet still people cannot get a property because they cannot get a mortgage on it. When will the Government put an end to this scandal?

Bishop of Manchester responds to Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, raising issues in mental healthcare funding and the ongoing cost of living crisis

The Bishop of Manchester spoke in a debate on the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 29th November 2023, welcoming the uprating of benefits and rise in the national living wage and calling for further commitment to funding for mental healthcare, and for an independent body to set the rate of benefits to ensure the cost of living are met:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, that felt more like a speech about a future Autumn Statement from a Labour Government than about the current one before us.

I too welcome the Minister to her new role and look forward to hearing from her often in this House. However, I suspect that, even if you are a Treasury Minister, every Autumn Statement feels like a missed opportunity. There are always things that each one of us would have liked to have seen given a higher priority and areas of spend to which we would have wanted greater resources allocated. There may also be things on which we think too much money is being spent, although they may be a little less common.

I begin by being grateful for a number of items announced this time. I am not sure that I can sustain that congratulatory perspective all the way through my remarks—your Lordships know me too well to expect that—but I will at least start in a positive direction. The uprating of working-age benefits by 6.7% and the 9.8% increase in the national living wage will go some way to stemming or slowing the growth and deepening of poverty among households who are striving and struggling with low-paid and insecure employment. My belief is that the money made available to our lowest-income households should not, however, be subject to annual political whim. More than a triple lock for pensions, we need an independent mechanism to ensure that benefits always cover the basic essentials of living.

Bishop of Manchester asks about UK’s modern slavery provisions

The Bishop of Manchester received the following written answer on 18th September 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester asked His Majesty’s Government what recent assessment they have made of the impact of section 63 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 on the operation of the UK’s modern slavery provisions (1) in prisons, and (2) across the wider population.

Votes: Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill

On 13th September 2023, the House of Lords debated the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill in the Report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the Bill, in which Bishops took part:

Bishop of Manchester asks about reduction of African countries’ debts

The Bishop of Manchester received the following written answer on 12th September 2023:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the statement by African Faith Leaders on 8 August calling for a reduction of debt across African countries.

Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Manchester tables motions to limit detention of children and ensure safe accommodation

During a debate on Commons Amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill on 12th July 2023, the Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of his motion K1, which would include an amendment to limit the amount of time a child could be kept in detention under the bill, and his motion N2, on safe accommodation for unaccompanied children:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, for his support for my Motion K1, even though I suspect we would both prefer his stronger Motion. I also welcome the government amendments that would allow an unaccompanied child to seek bail after eight days if they have been detained for removal.

I struggle to see why similar rules should not apply to all children. Hence, Motion K1 seeks to rectify the unreasoned omission of children who are with their families. It proposes a 24-hour extension to the current statutory 72-hour time limit for detention of children with families. Hence, the detention of these children would not be indefinite but be for no more than 96 hours or, if a Minister personally approved it, for no more than seven days. This seems a fair and reasonable change and I urge the Government to seriously reflect on it. I really cannot see that it is morally justified not to have equal provisions for children with families and those who are alone; one child is not different from another.

Votes: Illegal Migration Bill

On 12th July 2023, the House of Lords debated Commons amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill. Votes were held on these amendments, in which Bishops took part:

Illegal Migration Bill: Bishop of Manchester tables motion to maintain safeguards for unaccompanied children

On 12th July 2023, the House of Lords debated Commons amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill. The Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of motion A1, moved by Baroness Chakrabarti, to insert a new clause into the bill which would stipulate that the UK must abide by international obligations, and in support of his motion U1, which would propose that removal of putative children should be delayed until judicial review of disputed age assessments had been completed:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I support Motion A1 but will speak more particularly to Motion U1 in my name, to which the noble Baroness just referred. It proposes that if an age-assessment judicial review is in progress, removal should be delayed until its completion. I welcome comments from Ministers that those subject to an age dispute will be accommodated in an age-appropriate setting here in the UK, but can the Minister confirm that will be the case in a third country? Will Rwanda, for example, be informed that a young person is subject to an age dispute, and will the Rwandan Government then be required by the UK to keep that person separate from other adult residents and to supervise them properly as a child until the courts have made a judgment?

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