Tag: St Albans

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill: Bishop of St Albans supports amendment to compensate victims of financial crime

On 11th May 2023, the House of Lords debated the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill in committee. The Bishop of St Albans spoke in support of an amendment tabled by Lord Coaker which would provide for the potential of financial compensation for victims of economic crime:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: I am sorry I have been unable to engage more fully and consistently with this Bill, but this amendment prompted me to come here when I had a few minutes. I was recently speaking to someone I met at a social gathering. In the course of the evening, we were talking about a whole range of things, and he was talking about the fact that he had been defrauded of some money and how it is now materially affecting his retirement. His comment was: “I feel so embarrassed, because I’ve always tended to think it was simple people who didn’t understand financial matters who were likely to lose money. I’m highly literate, I’ve done all the right things, but I’ve been defrauded”. This is having a big effect.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about ambulance response times

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on bringing down ambulance response times on 11th May 2023, during a debate on financial resourcing of the NHS:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I welcome what His Majesty’s Government are doing to try to get on top of this very difficult problem. Will the Minister give us a little more information, particularly about ambulance services? In Hertfordshire, which is in my diocese, category 2 call-outs, for strokes and hearts attacks, should have an 18-minute response but the response is averaging two hours and six minutes at the moment. There is a great deal of anxiety among ordinary people when these things happen. When do we think that the money going to the ambulance service is going to bring response times down?

Lord Markham (Con, Department of Health and Social Care): I am pleased to say that the figures announced today show that response times are coming down. For category 1, the most serious, we achieved the 15-minute target for 90% of calls. We are moving in the right direction, albeit there is a lot more that needs to happen in this space. That is what the investment in 800 new ambulances is about, as well as the £200 million of funding. Most importantly, it is about making sure we have the right services in place. Some 50% of ambulance calls do not result in a trip to the hospital. There are fall services, which are often best placed to help, which will pick people up in their home.

Hansard

Bishop of St Albans asks about piracy in relation to automated ships

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 11th May 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of their ability to combat piracy once fully automated ships have been brought into service, and of how fully automated ships and their cargo can be protected from illegal boarding in the absence of a crew.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about guidelines for protesters on Public Order Bill

On 10th May 2023, the Bishop of St Albans asked whether the police or government would give guidelines to those who wish to protest regarding the scope of the public order act, following arrests under the act during the Coronation of King Charles:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I am sure that we all support the police for doing a magnificent job. One of the problems we are grappling with is that we have only read reports in the media, and of course the police may know things that we do not. However, by all accounts, someone who had been planning for months, working with the police, was arrested and simply did not realise that the luggage straps they were using to create their banners would fall foul of the legislation. Therefore, trying to be constructive, will either the police or the Government give some guidelines, to people who genuinely want to have a protest, about what is likely to fall within the scope of the Act, so that they can demonstrate peaceably?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about sufficiency of NHS nurses

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the government’s response to large numbers of people leaving nursing on 10th May 2023, during a debate on the sufficiency of the number of nurses in the NHS:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, the Royal College of Nursing has published figures showing that, between 2018 and 2022, 43,000 nurses left the nursing and midwifery register. We have seen this huge leaching of people moving out of nursing. What are His Majesty’s Government doing to listen to why these people are leaving and to see what we can do to retain these people who have been very expensively trained, have huge skills and are part of the reason why we have a shortage?

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Bishop of St Albans asks for support for agricultural growers

The Bishop of St Albans asked for assurances to the Lea Valley Growers Association in his diocese that support for their planning would be available going forward, during a debate on the upcoming ban on the sale of horticultural peat on 9th May 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, the Lea Valley in my diocese is an area sometimes known as Britain’s salad bowl. The Lea Valley Growers Association already faces huge problems, mainly because of the increase in energy costs at the moment, and many of these growers are going out of business. Its concern is that some crops are grown in very specialist ways, and some of the alternatives are not working very well. The association wants real guarantees and help to make sure that, where there are not good alternatives, growers have some security for their planning at a time when many of them are not planting anymore. Can the Minister give those assurances?

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Bishop of St Albans asks about improving financial education in the UK

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 9th May 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 3 April (HL6647):

  • what discussions they have had with (1) Barclays LifeSkills, (2) EVERFI, (3) HSBC, (4) Lloyds Banking Group, (5) NatWest MoneySense, (6) Santander Moneywise, and (7) other financial education providers, about improving financial education in the UK.
  • what steps they are taking to provide financial education for those who leave school early.
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Bishop of St Albans leads debate on UK foreign policy and the UK’s changing global role

On 3rd May 2023, the Bishop of St Albans tabled a motion to take note on the United Kingdom’s changing role in the world and its implications for foreign policy:

Motion to take note:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: That the Grand Committee takes note of the United Kingdom’s changing role in the world and its implications for foreign policy.

My Lords, the people of these islands have made an extraordinary contribution to the world, much of which we can be immensely proud of. However, with the contraction of the British Empire, two world wars, the emergence of the Commonwealth and our renegotiated relations with mainland Europe post Brexit, we have to continue to adapt to the changing world around us, not least as we negotiate new trade deals—a theme which I know a number of speakers will pick up on during today’s debate.

Long gone are the days when we could boast that Britannia ruled the waves or when the UK was famous for being the home of the Industrial Revolution and known as the workshop of the world, but as some things have declined, others have emerged. Today, we are renowned as a major financial centre, a provider of some of the best tertiary education in the world, the home of some of the most exciting and innovative developments in science, medicine and technology, not least in the fields of computing and artificial intelligence, and a country which has been at the forefront of international development and human rights. All this is happening in a world with massive population growth, where international trade and travel have grown hugely, where environmental concerns and climate change are rising—rightly—up the agenda, and where the ever-present threat of war, not least nuclear war, continues.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about duty to render assistance at sea for automated ships

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 3rd May 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to uphold the obligation “to render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of being lost” under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea once fully automated ships are brought into service.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about safeguarding absent schoolchildren

The Bishop of St Albans asked about potential safeguarding issues for children persistently absent from school, and support for local social services working to identify these children, during a debate on persistent absences on 2nd May 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, this has the potential to be a major safeguarding issue, which many professionals are concerned about. What are His Majesty’s Government doing to help schools work with local social services teams to ensure that we have identified who these children are, that their risk is assessed and that they are given the proper support that they need?

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