On 4th July 2023, the House of Lords debated the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Votes: Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill
Tag: Sheffield
Bishop of Sheffield welcomes plans to tackle homelessness
On 4th July 2023, the Bishop of Sheffield tabled a question on government steps to tackle homelessness following the launch of the Prince of Wales’ Homewards initiative:
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield: To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to tackle homelessness following the launch of the Prince of Wales’s Homewards initiative.
Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con): We welcome the Prince of Wales’s Homewards initiative and his interest and support in tackling homelessness. The Government have made the unprecedented commitment to end rough sleeping. In September 2022 we published our cross-government strategy, setting out how we were investing £2 billion over three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
Continue reading “Bishop of Sheffield welcomes plans to tackle homelessness”Diocesan Stipends Funds (Amendment): Bishop of Sheffield moves to pass Measure
On 27th June 2023, the Bishop of Sheffield moved a motion to direct that the Diocesan Stipends Funds (Amendment) Measure be presented to His Majesty the King for Royal Assent, and gave a speech in support of the motion:
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield: That this House do direct that, in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919, the Diocesan Stipends Funds (Amendment) Measure be presented to His Majesty for the Royal Assent.
My Lords, I am not entirely surprised to discover that this Measure excites noble Members of the House rather less than the previous business.
In the medieval period, clergy were paid mainly from income derived from land owned by each parish, known as glebe land. The amount of land varied from parish to parish, and so accordingly did the income of the clergy. With the Industrial Revolution and the growth of cities, wealthy industrialists were often willing to give significant amounts of money to support the local church, often helping to build and endow the church in question. In my diocese of Sheffield, a number of large churches were built in this period thanks to the generosity of industrialists such as Samuel Fox, the founder of the local Stocksbridge steelworks.
Continue reading “Diocesan Stipends Funds (Amendment): Bishop of Sheffield moves to pass Measure”Votes: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill
On 27th June 2023, the House of Lords debated the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill in the second day of the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Votes: Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill
On 20th June 2023, the House of Lords debated the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Bill: Bishop of Sheffield makes maiden speech supporting efforts to increase access to higher education
The Bishop of Sheffield made his maiden speech during a debate on the Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Bill on 19th June 2023, speaking on his experience in Sheffield Diocese and highlighting potential challenges in the implementation of the bill:
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield: My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to speak for the first time in this Chamber, and in support of this Bill’s aim of widening access to higher education. I look forward to hearing the maiden speech of the noble Lord, Lord Sewell of Sanderstead. I record my thanks to Members and staff for the consistently warm and generous welcome I have received and the helpful induction I have been given. If my experience of introduction to this House is typical, it speaks very well of the culture of this place.
On Thursday, it will be exactly six years since I was consecrated as a bishop at York Minster and took up my present responsibilities. The wonderful diocese I serve is made up of former steel-making and coal-mining communities across much of south Yorkshire, farming communities in parts of the East Riding and even a port in the town of Goole. I had never lived in south Yorkshire before but have found the city of Sheffield astonishingly green—I believe it to be the only city in England with a national park within its boundary.
Continue reading “Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Bill: Bishop of Sheffield makes maiden speech supporting efforts to increase access to higher education”Votes: Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill
On 26th April 2023, the House of Lords debated the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill in the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Bishop of Sheffield introduced
On 14th March 2023, the Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt Revd Dr Pete Wilcox, was introduced to the House of Lords and took his seat on the Bishops Benches as a Lord Spiritual.
Hansard records that:
Peter Jonathan, Lord Bishop of Sheffield, was introduced and took the oath, supported by the Bishop of Worcester and the Bishop of Guildford, and signed an undertaking to abide by the Code of Conduct.
The darkest valley: a reflection on this week in Parliament by the Bishop of Sheffield
The Bishop of Sheffield, Rt Revd Steven Croft posted the following article on the Sheffield Diocese website on 17th June 2016:
“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me”
These words from Psalm 23 have been in my mind this week following the atrocities in Orlando and the terrible murder of Jo Cox yesterday.
I’ve been in Parliament for my final week of duty there as the Bishop of Sheffield. It’s been a sombre week. The House of Lords kept a minute’s silence on Monday afternoon before prayers for the victims of the Orlando shootings. On Monday evening I walked through Soho on the way to meet my son. I was moved by the powerful display of solidarity by the LGBTI community there and across the world. Continue reading “The darkest valley: a reflection on this week in Parliament by the Bishop of Sheffield”
Bishop of Sheffield speaks on Church response to the migrant crisis
On Wednesday 15th June 2016 the House of Lords debated the Report from the European Union Committee The EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling (4th Report, Session 2015–16, HL Paper 46). The Bishop of Sheffield, Rt Revd Steven Croft, spoke in the debate:
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield: My Lords, I welcome the two reports before us in all their complexity and I thank the members of the European Union Committee for their expertise, which is already evident in this debate. I particularly welcome the committee’s recommendation in paragraph 8 that the mandate of Operation Sophia is reviewed and renewed, along with the EU’s subsequent decisions. Clearly, this operation alone cannot be the complete answer to the challenges that we face. However, the European Union must not return to the position that it held before the Lampedusa tragedy of apparent indifference to those who seek to cross the Mediterranean in danger of their lives. Nor can we neglect the spread of people-smuggling on and across our borders. Continue reading “Bishop of Sheffield speaks on Church response to the migrant crisis”
The Church of England in Parliament 
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