The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 8th March 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the work of a British Museum team in the discovery of an early Sumerian Palace at Girsu/Tello, funded by the Getty Museum, and (2) making provision of similar funding for the training of Iraqi archaeologists and the conservation of Iraq’s antiquities under the Cultural Heritage Protection Programme.
The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 7th March 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what discussions they will have with the government of Uganda about its decision to close the offices of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights in that country in August 2023.
The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 7th March 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decision of the World Food Programme to cut the daily food ration to Rohingya refugees by 17 per cent; and whether they will contribute to making up the shortfall in funding.
The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 2nd March 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government whether they will ask the UN Human Rights Council to undertake a fact-finding mission concerning the blast at the Port of Beirut on 4 August 2020.
The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 1st March 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decision by the government of Israel to prohibit Palestinians under the age of 22 from entering Israel to participate in organised peace-building activities and the impact that this will have on UK-funded cross-community peace building work in the region.
The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 20th February 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 31 January (HL4816), what consideration they have given to increasing the £350,000 given in aid to the Start Fund for Nagorno-Karabakh due to the ongoing blockade of (1) food, and (2) medicine, caused by the closure of the Lachin corridor.
The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answers on 20th February 2022:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of Iraqi refugees in Jordan that have (1) applied for, and (2) been granted, asylum in the UK since 2014.
Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con): The Home Office publishes data on asylum and resettlement in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release(opens in a new tab)’. Data on the number of asylum applications and initial decisions by nationality are published in table Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 respectively of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets(opens in a new tab). Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to Q3 2022.
On Friday 3rd February, the House of Lords debated the Education (Non Religious Philosophical Convictions) Bill in its second reading. The bill would introduce provision for “religious worldviews” to replace religious education in some schools. The Bishop of Southwark spoke in the debate, arguing that religious education fills a key place in the curriculum:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark: My Lords, I speak in this debate feeling somewhat like an officer of the Salvation Army commending temperance to a conference of brewers. None the less, while I believe that the noble Baroness, Lady Burt of Solihull, has made some important points introducing this Bill and I am grateful for them, I want to make some general points to gently demonstrate why this proposed measure for RE in schools without a religious character is unnecessary. I am glad to follow the noble Lord, Lord Griffiths of Burry Port, although my view is somewhat different on this occasion from his wisdom and I have no immediate plans to join the British Humanist Association.
First, I stress the value of what remains of religious education within our schools. While the outcomes of education remain a contested area of debate in society, the purpose of education and what it does to us receives much less attention. Too much is assumed in that regard, and that partly informs this Bill. My belief is that human flourishing happens in body, mind and spirit and that education engages us in each of these aspects, which need to be held together holistically.
The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answer on 26th January 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government, further to the statement by the Secretary of State for the Home Department on 23 June 2020 (HC Deb col. 1193), what progress they have made towards implementing recommendations 9 and 10 of the Windrush Lessons Learned Review (HC 93) to create a Migrants Commissioner and to give more powers to the Independent Chief Inspector for Borders and Immigration.
Lord Muarry of Blidworth (Con): In March 2020 the then Home Secretary published Wendy Williams’s Windrush Lessons Learned Review, which set out 30 recommendations for the department.
A range of options have been considered for delivering these recommendations, which have been discussed with external stakeholders. The Home Office is taking steps to be more transparent to ensure that the department is as open as possible to all types of scrutiny, both internal and external.
The Bishop of Southwark received the following written answers on 26th January 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the blockade of the Lachin corridor since 12 December 2022 on the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh; and what humanitarian assistance they are providing in response.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con): The UK Government has made clear that the closure of the Lachin corridor risks severe humanitarian consequences, particularly during winter. Officials have met with humanitarian agencies, including the ICRC, to discuss the situation. The START FUND, to which the UK is a significant donor, has allocated £350,000 to support those affected by the closure of the Lachin Corridor. UK officials remain in touch with humanitarian partners to monitor the situation. The Minister for Europe issued a statement highlighting the importance of re-opening the Lachin corridor on 13 December and our Ambassadors in the region and other senior UK officials have reinforced this message with key interlocutors. We also called for an early resolution to this issue in our interventions in Vienna at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on 15 December and in New York at the UN Security Council on 20 December.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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