On 21st May 2024, the House of Lords debated the Victims and Prisoners Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which a bishop took part:
Votes: Victims and Prisoners Bill
Tag: Victims and Prisoners Bill 2024
Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham supports provision of aftercare for those under Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences
On 21st May 2024, during a debate on the Victims and Prisoners Bill, the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham spoke in support of amendments aimed at reforming Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences, particularly with regard to providing extended aftercare for prisoners affected by these sentences:
The Lord Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham: My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow noble Lords—and noble and learned Lords—and to benefit from their considerable wisdom on the matter at hand. I do not wish to repeat all that has already been said, but my right reverend friend the Bishop of Gloucester has added her name to several amendments in this group. She is sadly unable to be here today, but I know that, like many other noble Lords, she is dedicated to seeing the reform of the criminal justice system, particularly in respect of our prisons, for which she is the lead bishop for the Church of England.
Continue reading “Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham supports provision of aftercare for those under Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences”Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Lincoln supports amendments on duty of candour for public bodies dealing with major incidents
On 30th April 2024, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Victims and Prisoners Bill. The Bishop of Lincoln spoke in support of an amendment tabled by Lord Ponsonby, which “would require public authorities, public servants and officials to act in the public interest and with transparency, candour and frankness when carrying out their duties in relation to major incidents”, referencing the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster and stressing the importance of candour in responses from public bodies:
The Lord Bishop of Lincoln: My Lords, I support the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Ponsonby. My right reverend friend the Bishop of Manchester is also a strong supporter of this amendment, which he has signed, and he regrets that he cannot be in his place today to speak to it himself.
Continue reading “Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Lincoln supports amendments on duty of candour for public bodies dealing with major incidents”Votes: Victims and Prisoners Bill
On 30th April 2024, the House of Lords debated the Victims and Prisoners Bill in the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Votes: Victims and Prisoners Bill
On 23rd April 2024, the House of Lords debated the Victims and Prisoners Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which bishops took part:
Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Gloucester supports amendment aimed at protecting migrant victims of domestic abuse
During a debate on the Victims and Prisoners Bill on 23rd April 2024, the Bishop of Gloucester spoke in support of amendment 79 to the bill, which would aim to introduce protection for migrant victims of domestic violence:
The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, from listening to this debate, I am struck again and again by how so much of what we are saying was said in this House during the passage of the Domestic Abuse Bill. We need to listen to and be aware of that. I hope the Minister will reflect on that.
Continue reading “Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Gloucester supports amendment aimed at protecting migrant victims of domestic abuse”Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Manchester tables amendments on support services for victims of crime
On 23rd April 2024, the House of Lords debated the Victims and Prisoners Bill. The Bishop of Manchester spoke in support for his amendments 60, 64, and 70 to be the bill, which focus on establishing support services for victims of crime:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I will speak to my Amendments 60, 64 and 70, which echo amendments on support services for victims that I tabled in Committee. I am grateful to the Minister for his responses at that stage and for his kindness in meeting me and representatives of Refuge and Women’s Aid in the interim. In light of those conversations, it is not my intention to press any of these amendments to a Division today. However, I hope that, in this debate and in the Minister’s response to it, we can clarify a little further how His Majesty’s Government will seek to ensure that victims across the country have access to quality support services provided by organisations that hold their confidence and understand their specific circumstances. As we are now on Report, I will not repeat the detailed arguments of Committee, but I think their force still stands.
Amendment 60 places a duty on the Secretary of State to define in statutory guidance
“the full breadth of specialist community-based support domestic abuse services”.
Continue reading “Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Manchester tables amendments on support services for victims of crime”Votes: Victims and Prisoners Bill
On 16th April 2024, the House of Lords debated the Victims and Prisoners Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Manchester urges greater support for victims of child criminal exploitation
On 16th April 2024, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Victims and Prisoners Bill. The Bishop of Manchester spoke in support of amendments 5 and 8 to the bill pertaining to child criminal exploitation, urging that a consistent definition of this be adopted to ensure support for children affected by criminal exploitation:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I will speak very briefly to Amendments 5 and 8, to which I have added my name. One of the things that has changed hugely over my adult lifetime is an understanding of just how lifelong traumatising events that take place in childhood are. For that reason, we need to be very clear and careful when working with children.
Continue reading “Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Manchester urges greater support for victims of child criminal exploitation”Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Gloucester moves amendment to facilitate data collection on families and prisons
On 25th March 2024,the Bishop of Gloucester gave a speech and moved the following amendment during a debate on the Victims and Prisoners Bill:
172: After Clause 56, insert the following new Clause—
“Data collection in relation to children of prisoners: The Secretary of State must collect and publish annual data identifying—(a) how many prisoners are the primary carers of a child,(b) how many children have a primary carer who is a prisoner, and(c) the ages of those children.”
The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Farmer, tabled this amendment, to which I am very pleased to add my name in support and to move it today in this final stage of Committee on the Bill. In his absence, I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the noble Lord for his commitment to the families of prisoners. This is also an issue which I know my right reverend friend the Archbishop of Canterbury cares deeply about, as well.
This amendment was selected for Report stage in the other place but not discussed. Introduced by Harriet Harman, it is an important progress chaser to the Government’s response to the 2019 report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights, which she then chaired. This proposed new clause would require the Secretary of State to collect and publish annual data, identifying how many prisoners are primary carers of a child or children, how many children have a primary carer in prison, and the ages of those children. Its inclusion would be highly appropriate for this Bill, which focuses on both victims and prisoners.
When a parent is committed to custody, their child should not also receive a sentence; they should not be punished or overlooked as a result of their parent’s crime.
Continue reading “Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Gloucester moves amendment to facilitate data collection on families and prisons”
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