On 22nd March 2022, the House of Lords considered Commons amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Votes were held on further amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part.
Votes: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill
Tag: manchester
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Manchester speaks on violence reduction and on regulations on noise from protests
On 22nd March 2022, the House of Lords debated Commons amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The Bishop of Manchester spoke twice in the debate, first voicing his concerns regarding serious violence reduction orders:
My Lords, I echo the thoughts that the noble Lord, Lord Young, has just shared. I declare my interest as chair of the Manchester Homelessness Partnership board and as co-chair of the national police ethics committee, because I also wish to speak to the Motion regarding serious violence reduction orders.
I support the Vagrancy Act repeal, as I know my right reverend and most reverend friends on these Benches do, and have sought to see that included in previous Bills. I am grateful that it is now on track and I look forward to working with Ministers and others to ensure that we avoid any unintended consequences and do not simply recreate the old Act in more modern language.
Continue reading “Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Manchester speaks on violence reduction and on regulations on noise from protests”Votes: Nationality and Borders Bill
On 8th March 2022, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Nationality and Borders Bill in its third day of the Report stage. Votes were held on several amendments, in which Bishops took part.
Votes: Health and Care Bill
On 7th March 2022, the House of Lords debated the Health and Care Bill in its report stage. Votes were held on amendments in which Bishops took part.
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Manchester speaks in favour of amendments on Serious Violence Reduction Orders
On 10th January 2022, the House of Lords debated the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in the fourth day of the report stage. The Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of a group of amendments relating to the implementation of Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs):
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I support Amendments 90H, 90J, 95A, 95B and 95C, to which I have added my name. I also signal my support for other amendments in this group which also seek to control more tightly how serious violence reduction orders will operate. I draw your Lordships’ attention to my work on policing ethics, both for Greater Manchester Police and for the National Police Chiefs’ Council, as set out in the register of interests.
As the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, has indicated, Amendment 90H seeks to ensure that an SVRO can be applied only when a bladed article or offensive weapon is used to commit an offence, not simply when such an item happens to be present and in the possession of the defendant. As the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, has indicated, as presently drafted, the Bill requires no substantive link between the weapon and the offence. An individual could, for example, commit a road traffic offence while driving home from a church picnic, with their used cutlery on the passenger seat next to them, and the prosecution could ask for an SVRO.
Continue reading “Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Manchester speaks in favour of amendments on Serious Violence Reduction Orders”Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Manchester supports amendments on protection for Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities
On 13th December 2021, during a debate on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, the Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of amendments that would provide protection from eviction and homelessness for those from Gyspy, Roma, and Traveller communities:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I declare my interests, first in my work with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, which has already been referred to today, secondly as chair of the Wythenshawe Community Housing Group, and lastly as deputy chair of the Church Commissioners for England, one of the largest owners of farmland in the country. I think I have almost as wide a range of interests as has this extraordinarily diverse and far-reaching Bill.
I am grateful to those noble Lords from across the House who have proposed and supported the amendments in this group and spoken to them so powerfully in this debate. Like others, I am also grateful to the Minister for generously taking time to engage with us last week.
In my short time so far as a Member of your Lordships’ House, I have become accustomed to Ministers telling us that they have sympathy for our position but that the present Bill is not the way to address the matters that concern us—for example, when we tried to look at safety in high buildings on the then Fire Safety Bill. I do not see why we cannot play the same card. We need a separate Bill, one that deals comprehensively with the needs as well as the obligations of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people—not simply legislation that offers fresh and very serious penalties for what may be rather minor infractions. The matters addressed in these clauses would surely be better dealt with in that more balanced context. That would allow Her Majesty’s Government to deliver on their manifesto commitment.
Continue reading “Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Manchester supports amendments on protection for Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities”Votes: Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill
On 13th December 2021, the House of Lords debated the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill in the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part.
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Manchester supports amendments on data protection
On 8th December 2021, the House of Lords debated the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in its first day of the report stage. The Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of amendments to ensure data protection regulations are maintained when data is shared under the bill:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I rise to support the amendments in my name and those of the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, and the noble Lord, Lord Paddick. I draw your Lordships’ attention to my interests in policing ethics and my work with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, as set out in the register. I trust that those interests assure your Lordships that I am a strong supporter of effective policing, not its adversary.
As an occasional statistician, I am also well aware of the power and utility of data. Good data, including on the risks of serious violence, can provide the evidence that allows the limited resources of our police forces to be directed to the particular challenges faced in different contexts and localities. Perhaps it is because I trained not as a lawyer but as a mathematician that I hold firmly to the maxim that, before one can begin to find the right solution, one has to have clearly defined the problem. I am not sure that these clauses, as presently drafted, fully pass that test.
Continue reading “Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Manchester supports amendments on data protection”Votes: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill
On 8th December 2021, the House of Lords debated Commons Amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Votes were held on further amendments to the bill, in which a Bishop took part:
Votes: Adjournment
On 8th December 2021, the House of Lords held a vote on a motion for adjournment, in which Bishops took part:
The Church of England in Parliament 
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