Tag: St Albans

Bishop of St Albans asks about protection for the vulnerable during cold weather

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 23rd February 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what further steps they will be taking to protect vulnerable people during the cold weather.

Lord Callanan (Con): The Government has set up a number of Energy Affordability schemes to support vulnerable people with the cost of their energy bills during the cold weather. The Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical household in Great Britain £900 this Winter. The Energy Bills Support Scheme provided households with £400 non-repayable Government discount paid in instalments to UK households from October 2022 to March 2023. Households using alternative fuels will be also entitled to a £200 Alternative Fuel Payment.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about government efforts to reduce knife crime

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 23rd February 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce incidences of knife crime against shop workers.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con): The Home Office has provided £130m this financial year (22/23) to tackle and drive down serious violence, including funding for Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) and the Home Office ‘Grip’ programme.

We have introduced legislation to tackle these crimes. Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) are new court orders introduced via the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 that will give the police the power to stop and search adults already convicted of knife or offensive weapons offences. We will pilot SVROs in four police force areas to build an understanding of the impact and effectiveness of the new orders before making a decision on whether we should introduce them nationally.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about sustainability targets for oil companies

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 22nd February 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government whether they have held any discussions with BP following reports that the company will fail to meet its climate targets; and what steps they are taking to promote sustainability in oil companies.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about knife crime in Hertfordshire

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 22nd February 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many instances of knife crime occurred in Hertfordshire in (1) 2022, (2) 2021, (3) 2020, and (4) 2019.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con): The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the noble Lord Bishop’s Parliamentary Question of 9 February is attached.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about trade with Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 20th February 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what is the value of UK direct imports and exports to:

  • Ethiopia
  • Eritrea
  • Sudan

Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con): The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the noble Lord Bishop’s Parliamentary Question of 30 January is attached.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about backdated tax allowance payments for married couples

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 20th February 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the total amount of backdated marriage allowance payments that have been paid in (1) 2022, (2) 2021, (3) 2020, and (4) 2019; and what estimate they have made of how much has not yet been claimed.

Baroness Penn (Con): The information requested is not readily available to HMRC and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Hansard

Bishop of St Albans asks about financial services for blind and partially sighted people

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on Monday 20th February 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support financial inclusion for blind and partially-sighted people.

Baroness Penn (Con): The Government works closely with regulators, industry, and consumer groups to promote financial inclusion. The Economic Secretary recently invited the Royal Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to attend the latest Financial Inclusion Policy Forum for a discussion of accessibility issues and consideration of what further action can be taken.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about biodiversity in Hertfordhire

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 20th February 2023:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support biodiversity in Hertfordshire.

Lord Benyon (Con): In England we have set four legally binding targets for biodiversity:

– By 2030: to halt the decline in species abundance

– By 2042: to reverse declines; to reduce the risk of species extinction; and to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about dual British-Iranian citizens

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

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government how many people have dual British-Iranian citizenship; and of those, what estimate they have made of the number currently residing in Iran.

Lord Murray of Blidworth (Con): Under UK law, there is no restriction on holding other passports so only the ‘relevant’ nationality to a case is generally captured in a analysable form.

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Bishop of St Albans asks about access to phones and broadband in rural areas

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

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of how many people in rural areas do not have access to (1) landline phones, (2) mobile telephone coverage, (3) wireless coverage, (4) broadband, and (5) satellite internet.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con): Ofcom collects coverage as part of its reporting requirements, most recently in its Connected Nations Report, with data for the period to September 2022.

Ofcom reports that 96% of rural premises have indoor 4G coverage from at least one operator, rising to 99% for outdoor coverage. This equates to c.195,000 rural premises not having 4G indoor coverage, with c.26,500 not having outdoor 4G coverage.

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