The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 10th December 2021:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government whether 14 residents in a dormitory meets the UKHSA recommendations for a COVID-19 compliant environment; and if so, what guidance informed this recommendation.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about COVID-19 disease control”The Bishop of Ely asked a question on the number of children waiting for speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy assessments following initial assessments on 16th November 2021, during a debate on NHS waiting lists in England:
The Lord Bishop of Ely: My Lords, can the Minister confirm the number of children waiting for treatment for speech and language and for physiotherapy and occupational therapy assessments after their initial assessment? Those treatments are vital for supporting educational development of children as we recover from the pandemic. Are those figures included in the published waiting list figures—and, if not, why not?
Lord Kamall (Con): I thank the right reverend Prelate for that question. Unfortunately, I do not have the statistics with me, but I shall write to him.
The Bishop of London asked a question on whether the government would increase funding for public health nurses in communities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic on 2nd November 2021:
The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, during my time as the Government’s Chief Nursing Officer for England I witnessed the unique value of public health nurses in the community. The pandemic has further highlighted the importance of such roles and the significance of a whole-system approach. Given this, will Her Majesty’s Government consider increasing funding specifically to build up or rebuild the capacity of public health nurses to tackle localised health inequalities?
Continue reading “Bishop of London asks about increased funding for public health nursing”The Bishop of Durham received the following written answer on 1st November 2021:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked Her Majesty’s Government how many cases of COVID-19 there have been at Napier Barracks since April.
Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con, Home Office): Twelve people have tested positive for coronavirus whilst accommodated at Napier Barracks since April 2021.
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham asks about cases of COVID-19 among asylum seekers at Napier Barracks”On 21st October 2021, the Bishop of Manchester spoke in response to a government statement on COVID-19, urging the government to consider incremental methods of approaching managing the virus:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I apologise for having stood up too early a moment or two ago; I am still very much learning my trade in this House, but I follow the dictum of Martin Luther, that if you must sin, sin boldly.
I am grateful for the Statement, and assure the Minister that the faith communities, which did a lot last year to get health messages to some of the harder-to-reach groups in our society, stand ready to do the same again this winter, but I wonder whether the Government have made a rod for their own back in having plan A versus plan B. It seems a very polar way to deal with things when, actually, we need a more graduated method. Perhaps I might encourage the Government not to be the prisoner of their own rhetoric and for the Minister to share with his colleagues in another place that perhaps we could have steps between a plan A and a plan B: we need gradual, incremental stages as the virus levels rise. I encourage him to try that.
Continue reading “Bishop of Manchester responds to government statement on COVID-19”On 20th October 2021, the Bishop of Durham urged that the government put their “Plan B” into action to combat rising cases of COVID-19, citing the increased strain on emergency services:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I have a daughter who works in A&E in a London hospital who simply says, “Please will you make people act responsibly once again?” It costs us absolutely nothing. We acted too slowly previously. We have seen 10% increases in the last week; please just get on with plan B.
Lord Kamall (Con): I thank the right reverend Prelate for his question. It is important. Personally, I do believe that many people should be wearing masks and that there is evidence for this. But the fact is, we have to look at a number of indicators and balance those up.
The Bishop of Durham spoke in a debate on regional inequalities on 14th October 2021, discussing issues relating to child poverty and health inequality:
The Lord Bishop of Durham: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, for securing this debate, and am pleased to follow on from the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham. I, too, look forward to the maiden speech of the noble Viscount, Lord Stansgate.
Jubilee is a strong theme of our Judaeo-Christian tradition. Jubilee includes setting people free from the impacts of inequality. If levelling up is going to mean anything significant, it must tackle the inequalities that exist in our nation. It needs to be a kind of jubilee.
This week is Challenge Poverty Week. Child poverty is a very good measure of regional inequalities within England, as it is both an indicator of poverty and a perpetuator of it. Child poverty highlights the complexity of issues that cause it, including education and employment. It has lifelong impacts on children as they grow into adults and shape their communities. The recent report by Donald Hirsch for Loughborough University estimates that the cost of child poverty is £38 billion a year, a significant increase in the past five years.
We see far higher levels of child poverty in some places than others. It is not a simple divide of a wealthy London and an impoverished north. The Institute for Fiscal Studies reported in its Green Budget for 2020 that
“inequalities within regions are larger than the inequalities between regions.”
Continue reading “Bishop of Durham speaks about tackling child poverty and health inequality”
The Bishop of London received the following written answer on 15th July 2021:
The Lord Bishop of London asked Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have (1) to collect, and (2) to report, data on the number of people affected by long-COVID alongside the data on hospitalisations and death.
Continue reading “Bishop of London asks about data on long-COVID”The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on access to healthy food for children in low income households on 13th July 2021, following a question on support for people receiving universal credit:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I am saddened to hear about the phasing out of the £20 uplift in universal credit. Her Majesty’s Government have made a very positive step towards tackling childhood obesity with plans to ban junk food adverts before 9 pm but there is a clear link between poverty and obesity, particularly where financial constraints make cheap, high-calorie food more affordable than healthy alternatives. How then do the Government aim to improve access to healthy food for those on universal credit?
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about access to healthy food for children in low income households”The Bishop of Gloucester asked a question on the COVID-19 regulations around singing during worship on 30th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, bearing in mind that on Monday in the other place the new Health Secretary said he hoped that church congregations would soon be able to sing together, could the Minister please give us some clarity on this and say what plans the Government have now to review the research on congregational singing with the use of face coverings, given that singing is not an add-on to worship but integral to it?
Continue reading “Bishop of Gloucester asks about regulations around singing during worship”
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