On 26th February 2025, the Bishop of Norwich received the following written answers:
The Lord Bishop of Norwich asked His Majesty’s Government what progress has been made towards meeting the statutory environmental target of 16.5 per cent tree cover in England by 2050.
Continue reading “Bishop of Norwich asks about climate and environment targets”The Bishop of Norwich received the following written answers on 24th February 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Norwich asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the World Economic Forum’s top two global risks over the next ten years, namely extreme weather events, exacerbated by climate change, and biodiversity loss.
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The Bishop of Norwich spoke in support of a government amendment to the Great British Energy Bill which would stipulate that Great British Energy had scope for involvement in community energy projects on 11th February 2025, welcoming the amendment and highlighting the role churches might play in these projects:
The Lord Bishop of Norwich: My Lords, I support the Government’s Amendment 8. It is good that the Government have introduced this amendment so that Great British Energy can facilitate, encourage and participate in local community energy projects. I pay tribute to the noble Earl, Lord Russell, for the work he has done on this, as well as a number of different campaigning organisations and other Members of your Lordships’ House. This is a very important amendment, and it will be a great help to a whole range of different community organisations.
Continue reading “Great British Energy Bill: Bishop of Norwich supports amendments on community energy projects”
The Bishop of Norwich spoke in a debate on lifelong learning on 6th February 2025, highlighting the role of faith communities in the sector:
The Lord Bishop of Norwich: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Knight, for bringing this debate and look forward in the spirit of lifelong learning to hearing other contributions this evening.
Lifelong learning is about social value, although we do not live to store up treasure just for ourselves. It is about economic value, although we do not live by bread alone. It is about personal value, although we do not live just for me but for the flourishing of others who are our neighbours. Faith communities play an important part in all these aspects of lifelong learning, through catechesis, engagement with social issues, basic skills training, youth work, volunteering and engagement with schools, FE colleges and universities. They are also crucially involved in spiritual value by fostering vocation and character.
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The Bishop of Norwich spoke in a debate on ensuring fines paid by water companies are used to repair damage to the sewage system on 6th February 2025, stressing the need for cultural change among water company leadership
The Lord Bishop of Norwich: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Grender, for securing this timely debate. It is a scourge on us all that sewage pollution is damaging so many of our watercourses and coastlines—damaging their ecosystems but also our enjoyment of them. I remember my first experience of such pollution when, as a young lad, I caught sticklebacks in my hands from the ditches around our Yorkshire village. One day, I went to my usual place of good stickleback hunting to find it putrid, with a storm drain leaking sewage and items—at the time, I did not understand what they were—floating in the ditch. The sticklebacks were gone for over a year.
Continue reading “Bishop of Norwich highlights need for cultural change among water company leadership”The Bishop of Norwich asked a question on the impact of changes to school fees on armed forces personnel on 5th February 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Norwich: My Lords, as the father of a soldier, I am particularly interested in this topic, particularly where both parents are serving in the Armed Forces, often in different locations. What assessment has the Minister made of confidence in the Armed Forces covenant with this change?
Continue reading “Bishop of Norwich asks about confidence in the Armed Forces Covenant”The Bishop of Norwich asked a question on efforts to deliver medical supplies to the Al-Ali Hospital in Gaza on 8th January 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Norwich: My Lords, three days before Hamas’s horrendous attacks on Israel I was in Gaza visiting the Anglican Al-Ahli Hospital. That hospital was struck again on 29 December by an Israeli artillery shell—the fifth strike it has had. Earlier this afternoon, I asked the archbishop in Jerusalem for an update and he provided me with a list of things that are urgently needed by his medical director at that hospital. They include antibiotics, anaesthesia drugs, sterile gloves, plaster of Paris, surgical knives, abdominal swabs and much more. All of that is in a container that has been in Amman for two months, held up because the Israeli Government will not allow it in. What might His Majesty’s Government do to try to enable that medical equipment to get to the Al-Ahli Hospital urgently?
Continue reading “Bishop of Norwich asks about supply of medical items to Al-Ali Hospital in Gaza”The Bishop of Norwich asked a question on police action in cases of institutional abuse on 8th January 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Norwich: My Lords, recent events have rightly turned the spotlight on the Church of England’s record around safeguarding. Those of us on these Benches are highly committed to listening to survivors and bringing about the further institutional and cultural changes that need to be made, beyond the enormous progress that has been made over the past 10 years. What assurance can the Minister give that the police will act on information that they receive, which, it is alleged, was not the case in 2013, when the horrendous crimes of John Smyth were correctly reported to them?
Continue reading “Bishop of Norwich asks about police action in cases of institutional abuse”The Bishop of Norwich received the following written answer on 6th January 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Norwich asked His Majesty’s Government:
The Bishop of Norwich took part in a debate on the impact of the government’s new budget on family farms on 12th December 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Norwich: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Earl, Lord Leicester, for bringing this timely debate. Let us not beat about the hedgerow: the Government’s Budget proposals are bringing huge stress and deep concern to the farming community, as we have already heard. For many, this is the final straw after years of challenges.
I have become aware of a particularly tragic circumstance in south Norfolk where, due to a terminal cancer diagnosis, if the farmer survives after 5 April 2026, the policy change will have a huge impact on his family’s well-being and fortunes. That pressure puts enormous strain on him, almost wishing him to die sooner, because then the farm will be safe.
What of situations of the unexpected sudden death of a young farmer? The family would not only have lost the primary breadwinner but would probably have an unsustainable farm to carry on farming.
Continue reading “Bishop of Norwich speaks in debate on impact of the budget on family farms”
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