poverty – Page 3 – The Church of England in Parliament

Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2025: Bishop of Chelmsford speaks in committee

On 25th February 2025, the Bishop of Chelmsford spoke at a committee debate on the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, it is very good to be here today and I am glad to be able to contribute on this important subject. As we consider a proposed uprating of 1.7%, as compared with 6.8% last year and 10.1% the year before, I am mindful of the different backdrop to this year’s decision. We may no longer be in a period of soaring inflation, but costs remain high in just about every area of life. The discrepancy between the inflation rate from September 2024, by which most means-tested benefits will be uprated, and the current rate of 3% will be felt particularly by those who have not benefited from wage growth this year. This is a timely moment to explore social security as the Government set out their wider agenda in this area.

The manifesto commitments to review universal credit as a means of supporting people into work and addressing poverty and to produce a child poverty strategy could give us a basis on which to improve the lives of millions of people in our country. Indeed, bold action is required in both these areas and, like other noble Lords, I await the outcome of these reviews with keen interest.

Bishop of Newcastle asks about effects of loneliness on food bank usage, and financial viability of apprenticeships for young people

The Bishop of Newcastle receive the following written answers on 6th January 2025:

The Lord Bishop of Newcastle: His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to address loneliness and social isolation as a root cause of foodbank usage following a recent report published by the Centre for Social Justice which found that over twice as many people who use foodbanks feel lonely most of the time compared to other adults.

Bishop of Sheffield asks about educational attainment gap

The Bishop of Sheffield received the following written answer on 2nd December 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Sheffield asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the finding in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report UK Poverty 2024: The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK, published on 23 January, that of all entrants into first class undergraduate degrees in 2021–22, “just one per cent had a parent who was long-term unemployed or had never worked”; and what steps they are taking to reduce this educational attainment gap.

Bishop of St Albans asks about poverty and debt

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 24th October 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government, with regard to the finding in the Christians Against Poverty report Under the rubble of debt and poverty, published in May, that 59 per cent of their new clients had incomes below the poverty line, what steps they will take to reduce the number of individuals living below this threshold.

Baroness Sherlock (Lab, DWP): This government is committed to tackling poverty.

Bishop of Newcastle asks about child poverty and benefits system

The Bishop of Newcastle received the following written answers on 24th October 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Newcastle asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the financial impact that the five-week wait has on those awaiting their first Universal Credit payment.

Baroness Sherlock (Lab, DWP): No assessment has been made of the financial impact of the 5-week-wait. The Government is committed to reviewing Universal Credit so that it makes work pay and tackles poverty.

Bishop of Manchester asks about issue of holiday hunger for children

The Bishop of Manchester asked a question on the governments plans to tackle holiday hunger for children on 24th July 2024, raising the example of church projects offering support to children and families in school holidays:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: Something like seven out of every eight local authorities now use this money to alleviate holiday hunger among our children. Can we have any hope that the Government will look at a more strategic way of helping children cope with hunger during the school holidays? Many of the churches in my diocese, and those of my right reverend friends here, are having to put on voluntary projects to support children during those periods. What can we hope for?

King’s Speech Debate: Bishop of Lincoln speaks on impact of poverty in rural and coastal communities

The Bishop of Lincoln spoke in the King’s Speech debate on 19th July 2024, raising the issue of poverty in coastal and rural areas and the subsequent effects on children’s mental health and wellbeing:

The Lord Bishop of Lincoln: My Lords, I share your Lordships’ appreciation of the noble Baronesses, Lady Barran and Lady Jolly, and I welcome the appointment of our new Ministers. The noble Baroness, Lady Merron, will know as much as I do about Lincolnshire and that, particularly in its coastal towns and rural areas, Lincolnshire suffers from intergenerational poverty, which has a very direct impact on children. I think your Lordships’ House has received two reports in the last 15 years about the poverty in our coastal towns, but nothing much has changed. If I have heard the Government correctly, I am glad to hear them express their intention to pay more attention to rural and coastal poverty, which is often hidden away when it is not in our big cities.

Therefore, I also particularly look forward to the progress of the children’s well-being Bill and the work of the newly announced child poverty unit. In moving forward in this area, how do His Majesty’s Government plan to involve faith communities in addressing these needs, particularly considering the concentration of faith communities in areas of poverty and deprivation, as my right reverend friend the Bishop of London referred to earlier?

Bishop of Leicester asks about assessing impact of the two-child limit

The Bishop of Leicester received the following written answer on 24th April 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester asked His Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 27 March (HL3520), why it is not possible to undertake a robust assessment of the impact of the two-child limit.

Bishop of Leicester asks about impact of the two-child limit for child benefit on poverty

The Bishop of Leicester received the following written answer on 27th March 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester asked His Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Markham on 11 March (HL Deb col 1802), and taking account of the latest Households Below Average Income data, which shows a 300,000 increase in the number of children living in absolute poverty in the past year, what assessment they have made of the impact on health and well-being of the two-child limit for child benefit; and what assessment they have made of the strengths and weaknesses of using the measure of absolute poverty rather than relative poverty.

Bishop of Leicester asks about impact of the two-child benefit limit

The Bishop of Leicester asked a question on the impact of the two-child limit on families receiving child benefit payments on 11th March 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Leicester: My Lords, there is strong evidence that in the early 2000s increases in child benefits led to an increase in the amount parents spent on fruit and vegetables and books and toys for their children. What assessment have the Government made of the impact of the two-child limit on benefits and, in particular, on the health and well-being of the 1.5 million children affected?

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