Tag: St Albans

Bishop of St Albans asks about impact of Tesco-Booker merger on small, independent, and rural businesses

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 9th May 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government:

  • what assessment they have made of the impact of the Tesco-Booker merger on independent shopkeepers.
  • whether they plan to make an assessment of the impact of the Tesco-Booker merger on rural small businesses, such as post offices and village stores.
  • what assessment they have made of the impact of the changes recently introduced by Booker on independent retailers.
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Bishop of St Albans asks about foreign language learning and international study

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 9th May 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of the impact of emerging artificial intelligence capacities on the necessity for foreign language learning.

Baroness Barran (Con, DfE): Studying a language can be extremely rewarding and exciting for children and young people. It can provide insight into other cultures and open the door to travel and employment opportunities. Whilst Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be useful in enhancing the experience of learning a language, and this should be explored further, it should not be seen as a replacement.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about risks of contaminated blood being used during cosmetic procedures

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 9th May 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risk of individuals contracting HIV from contaminated blood in unregulated cosmetic procedures.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about decline in uptake of childhood immunisations

The Bishop of St Albans tabled a question on government plans to address the decline in uptake of childhood immunisations on 8th May 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to address the decline in uptake of childhood immunisations.

Lord Markham (Con, DHSC): NHS England’s 2023 vaccination strategy set a range of ambitions, including to improve uptake of children’s vaccines across the board. On mumps, measles and rubella in particular, between January and March the NHS and partners administered around four times as many MMR vaccinations to those aged five to 25 as last year and focused on engaging groups with historically lower vaccination rates. We intend to build on these experiences to further improve uptake.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about humanitarian aid following potential Israeli offensive in Gaza

On 7th May 2024, the Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the provision of aid following news of a potential new offensive by Israeli forces:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty’s Government (1) what representations they are making to the Government of Israel in light of a potential new offensive by Israeli forces, and (2) what humanitarian aid and support of essential services they plan to provide to the region.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con, Foreign Office): My Lords, we want an end to the fighting as soon as possible. Well over six months since Hamas’s terror attack against Israel, it is appalling that hostages are still being held. Too many civilians are also dying in Gaza, and this weekend Hamas rockets killed four IDF soldiers and injured others. As we have said, the fastest way to end the conflict is to secure a deal which gets the hostages out and allows for a pause in the fighting in Gaza. It is then that we must turn that pause into a sustainable, permanent ceasefire.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about funding for SEND school places

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the availability of additional funding for SEND places in schools during a discussion on the removal of the admissions cap on state-funded faith schools on 7th May 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, Church of England schools will continue our long tradition of seeking to serve the common good and welcoming a huge diversity of people; we are glad to do that. The Minister has spoken about the huge problem of there not being enough special educational needs places. If I have understood this correctly, it means that this will be a new possibility. We in the Church of England would be keen to play our part to help with this, but one issue is the funding available for it, which makes it very difficult to offer. Alongside this announcement, what consideration have His Majesty’s Government given to providing additional funding for those SEND places, which we hope can release more energy into that deprived area?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about rural pharmacy provision

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 30th April 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government:

  • how many community pharmacies in rural areas closed in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.
  • what assessment they have made of the long-term financial viability of community pharmacies in rural areas. 
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Bishop of St Albans asks about policies to encourage breastfeeding

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 29th April 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to put in place policies that encourage breastfeeding, including supportive work environments where women are able to breastfeed or express milk.

Lord Markham (Con, DHSC): The Government’s vision, set out in the policy paper, The Best Start for Life: A Vision for the 1,001 Critical Days, is that every parent and carer has access to high quality infant feeding services in their local area. A copy of the paper is attached.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about links between alcohol consumption and breast cancer

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 29th April 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the link between women’s increasing consumption of alcohol and incidences of breast cancer.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about pharmacy provision in rural areas

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 29th April 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of the impact of rural pharmacy closures on access to primary care.

Lord Markham (Con, DHSC): It is the statutory duty of every local authority in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas including those that are rural in nature, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. Integrated care boards have regard to those assessments when commissioning services and where a pharmacy closure impacts on the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.

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