On 18th April 2016, the House of Lords debated an amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill that would mean victims of domestic violence who leave a secure social tenancy would be able to access a new secure tenancy, rather than the proposed short-term tenancies. The amendment had been tabled by Baroness Lister, with the support of the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Alan Smith. The Bishop of Peterborough, the Rt Revd Donald Allister spoke to the amendment on the Bishop of St Albans’ behalf.
The amendment was later withdrawn, after the Government committed to introduce it through regulations. Continue reading “Housing and Planning Bill: Bishop of Peterborough supports protections for victims of domestic violence”
The Lord Bishop of Peterborough: My Lords, I, too, am grateful for this debate. I also note with great pleasure a number of changes made to policy and practice in this area by Mr Gove since he became Secretary of State. I gladly thank him and the Government, particularly for allowing prisoners greater and easier access to books. But if educational standards in prisons are to be improved, as they desperately need to be, we still need much more joined-up thinking. I will give two examples. 
The Lord Bishop of Peterborough: My Lords, I speak as one who, until very recently, has been privileged to serve as a trustee of the Farming Community Network, which supports many farmers with difficulties of this sort. Is the Minister aware, as FCN certainly is, that many of those who have been told they will not receive their payments until after the end of this month—more than two months late—are farming in upland areas, not just common grazing, and are often the poorest farmers in the most need? Is it possible for at least some payment to be made on account? Can the Government assure noble Lords that payments will be made on time, and in full, in the next cycle?
The Lord Bishop of Peterborough: My Lords, 1952 was a good year: Her Majesty the Queen acceded to the Throne in February and I was born in August. That puts me in the majority of people in this country—although, I suggest, perhaps not in your Lordships’ House—whose whole lives have been lived in her reign. Those 63 years, coming up to 64, have seen immense change and an immense pace of change. Institutions and authority figures have become more accountable and often less trusted. The monarchy and the Royal Family have been through difficulties, but the Queen has come through as completely trusted and deeply loved. This is not because of the institution of the monarchy but because of her personal character and integrity. 
The Church of England in Parliament 
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