Andrew Selous: No one wants to throw away our hard-won achievement of massively reducing the numbers of deaths and hospitalisations from covid by doing anything irresponsible. We have lost too many lives and caused too much pain and suffering to do that. It is, however, a legitimate expectation that our wonderful and deeply appreciated vaccine roll-out should be laying the foundations to get our freedom to...
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his department will provide information his Department on the 2020 bias adjustment factor for the Dunstable air quality management area to enable Central Bedfordshire Council to produce the 2020 air quality figures for that area.
Andrew Selous: Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. Although we should always talk about obesity with sensitivity and avoid stigma at all costs, we lack courage and fail in our duty if we do not address it. Fundamentally, it is about life chances and social justice, and we want life, and life to the full, for all our constituents. We are regularly asked to do more for the NHS, and rightly so. One crucial...
Andrew Selous: While I welcome the measures in the Bill to standardise the collection of plastic waste across all local authorities, I remain very concerned at the continued increase in the production of single-use plastic. Too much of this plastic ends up as litter around our country and around the world, harming human, animal and marine health. We must start to reduce the amount of single-use plastic we...
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the budget is for the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff work for the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many ongoing cases the Independent Office for Police Conduct has been investigating for more than 12 months.
Andrew Selous: Diocesan resourcing of mission and ministry is supported by congregational giving, historic investments and other income. Additional support is provided from national funds generated by the investments of the Church Commissioners and distributed by the Archbishops' Council. The Diocese of Hereford has received:£1.172m of Lowest Income Communities Funding over 2020-22 to support mission and...
Andrew Selous: The Church Commissioners and other National Church Institutions have been in regular contact with the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral throughout the pandemic as they have with all the Anglican cathedrals in England. The Church Commissioners made additional financial support available to all cathedrals and dioceses throughout the pandemic over and above the financial support they...
Andrew Selous: People are really grateful to GP surgeries for their role in the vaccine roll-out, but are very keen to be seen face to face by a doctor, where that is appropriate, and in a timely manner. What is the Department doing to make that increasingly possible, please?
Andrew Selous: While there is never any excuse for firing rockets on civilians, would not the Israelis sleep more soundly at night if access to all the holy sites was maintained as agreed in 1967, if free Palestinian elections were allowed in East Jerusalem, and if Palestinians were not being evicted from their homes in Jerusalem?
Andrew Selous: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I am very grateful to Mr Speaker for granting me this debate. I am very proud to support a Government who have committed to the national living wage being equivalent to two thirds of the median income by 2024, in addition to reducing the age for accessing the national living wage to 23 this month and to 21 by April 2024. We want work to be worth while and an...
Andrew Selous: The original 1958 aid target was 1% and covered public and private aid flows. In 2013, the OECD said that we were getting 1.21% in total. Will the Minister make sure that in the future private as well as public aid flows are recorded, so that we have an up-to-date picture of total aid spending?
Andrew Selous: My hon. Friend will be delighted to learn that the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have launched a families and households commission, which will be chaired by Professor Janet Walker, emeritus professor of family policy at Newcastle University, and the Bishop of Durham, who is the Church of England’s lead on family policy.
Andrew Selous: My hon. Friend is right to raise all those issues. We know that it is generally far better for the mental health of children that they are in school, which is why Church schools have stayed open as much as possible. Millions of home-schooled children have also used the “Faith at Home” online resources provided by the Church. Many parishes are now reopening their early years and...
Andrew Selous: The Church of England’s General Synod passed a resolution in 2017 calling on the Government to end conversion therapy, to prevent vulnerable people from being subjected to potential spiritual abuse. The Church remains committed to this and will work with the Government on how it can most effectively be framed.
Andrew Selous: I thank my hon. Friend for making that point. The Prime Minister remains resolutely committed to prohibiting the imposition of any harmful and unnecessary practice in this area, without criminalising clergy and Church members for non-coercive pastoral support that individuals ask for.
Andrew Selous: The Church believes that it is possible to end conversion therapy without outlawing prayer and private conversations with clergy and Church members that an individual has requested. The Church has not requested an opt-out from the proposed law and will look carefully at the detail when the legislation is published.
Andrew Selous: The Church has been using all sorts of virtual and digital ways to worship in a highly effective manner, and that will need to continue as we open up again. The Church has reached many more people as a result.
Andrew Selous: Increasing numbers of churches are now open again across the country, and while online services will no doubt continue, they are not seen as a substitute for meeting in person. Clergy have played an essential role during the pandemic, and I thank them warmly for everything they have done. My hon. Friend will be reassured to know that the Archbishop of York told the General Synod in February...