On 24th March 2025, Marsha De Cordova MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from an MP:
Church of England: Young People
Jim Shannon MP (DUP, Strangford): To ask the Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to encourage more young people to attend places of worship.
Continue reading “Church Commissioners Written Questions: Young People”
The Bishop of Derby spoke in support of the Bishop of Manchester’s private member’s bill on 17th January 2025, stressing the need to listen to care leavers and to take their concerns seriously:
The Lord Bishop of Derby: My Lords, I congratulate my right reverend friend the Bishop of Manchester on bringing this Private Member’s Bill. I declare my interest as chair of the Children’s Society—a charity rooted in the Church of England and a key partner in the Church’s work to support care-experienced children and young people. I therefore welcome this Bill for the difference that it would make to care leavers.
As mentioned, last week we were privileged to hear directly from care leavers. I pay tribute to their resilience and I know that they are listening closely today. Their testimony reinforces my support for the Bill.
Three recurring themes emerge from our conversation: vulnerability, inconsistency and disempowerment. First, too many young people are made profoundly vulnerable as they leave care without a sufficient safety net around them. A recent survey by the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum found that 82% of care leavers struggled to afford food some or all the time.
Continue reading “Universal Credit (Standard Allowance Entitlement of Care Leavers) Bill: Bishop of Derby stresses need to listen to care leavers concerns”
The Bishop of Sheffield received the following written answer on 26th November 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield asked His Majesty’s Government what percentage of 11–18-year-olds in Sheffield currently have access to regular out of school activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer, in accordance with the goal set out in the National Youth Guarantee.
Continue reading “Bishop of Sheffield asks about access to extracurricular opportunities for young people”The Bishop of Sheffield received the following written answers on 18th November 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield asked His Majesty’s Government how many of the eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazer areas will be located in the north of England.
Baroness Sherlock (Lab, DWP): The Government’s plan to Get Britain Working includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people in England aged 18-21 to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. More detail on the Youth Guarantee will be set out in the upcoming Get Britain Working White Paper.
Continue reading “Bishop of Sheffield asks about opportunities for young people in the North of England”
The Bishop of Derby received the following written answer on 11th December 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Derby asked His Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce a national wellbeing measure for children to provide local authorities and national policymakers with data for the purpose of improving the mental health and wellbeing of young people.
Continue reading “Bishop of Derby asks about improving mental health and wellbeing for young people”The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the mental health of young people and the potential effects of social media and smartphones, during a discussion on health-related benefits claims on 5th November 2024:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I pick up the Minister’s reference to mental health. Some estimates suggest that up to two-thirds of those claiming incapacity benefits are doing so on the basis of mental health-related issues. Can the Minister tell us whether a focus on young people, in particular their use of things such as smartphones and social media, is being both researched and fed into the Government’s early intervention strategy?
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about effects of smartphones on young people’s mental health”
The Bishop of Newcastle tabled a question on government steps to educe the number of young people not in employment, education, or training on 29th October 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Newcastle: To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of young people not in employment, education, or training.
Continue reading “Bishop of Newcastle asks about reducing number of young people not in employment, education, or training”
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 23rd May 2024:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to tackle image-based sexual abuse among teenagers.
Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con, Home Office): The Government is committed to intervening as early as possible to prevent vulnerable children and young people from experiencing all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse. This includes education and awareness raising initiatives and equipping frontline professionals and safeguarding partners with the tools and training to identify child sexual abuse and provide support to children and young people.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about proliferation of intimate-image based abuse among teenagers”The Bishop of Derby asked a question on steps to eliminate racial bias against gypsy, Roma and traveller children in the youth justice system on 25th April 2024:
The Lord Bishop of Derby: My Lords, I hold responsibility in the Bishops’ prison team for children in the youth justice system, so my question arises not only from access to what I find to be quite disturbing data but also from direct contact with children in the justice system. What steps are His Majesty’s Government taking to eliminate racial bias, including in charging, against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children in the youth justice system, who are often hidden within official statistics?
Continue reading “Bishop of Derby asks about racial bias in youth justice”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 15th April 2024:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network World Happiness Report, published on 20 March; in particular, the finding that the happiness of young people under the age of 30 in the UK has declined.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about mental health of young people in the UK”
The Church of England in Parliament 
You must be logged in to post a comment.