the Bishop of Salisbury: My Lords, I have not been in the House in person since the first week of February. Sitting on the Front Bench earlier with the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Lincoln, I found myself wondering whether both of us had misjudged the timing of our retirements. I have led on the environment for the Church of England for seven years and have been a Member of the House for six. It has been a...
the Bishop of Salisbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of efforts to reduce maternal and under-five mortality rates in South Sudan; and what plans they have, if any, to reduce the level of funding provision to the South Sudan Health Pooled Fund.
the Bishop of Salisbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the progress of the peace process in South Sudan, and (2) the contribution made by the South Sudan Council of Churches’ Action Plan for Peace to that process.
the Bishop of Salisbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the reduction in overseas aid, in particular the funding provided through the Conflict Security and Stability Fund, on (1) the peace process in South Sudan, and (2) the contribution made by the South Sudan Council of Churches’ Action Plan for Peace to that process.
the Bishop of Salisbury: My Lords, the price of electricity from Hinkley is remaining unchanged at £92.50 per megawatt hour, and EDF is expecting the same profit of more than 7.1% on its investment. Given that, can the Minister explain the points that she has just made about how the additional 30% of construction costs on the initial £18 billion budget is being absorbed at no cost to consumers? As the price of...
the Bishop of Salisbury: My Lords, in Salisbury we have had good reason to recognise the dedication and sacrifice of health and care workers, both at the time of the Novichok poisonings and in this present pandemic. The use of Salisbury and other cathedrals and churches as vaccination centres indicates a partnership between spirituality and health care, so will the Minister join me in thanking chaplains, among all...
the Bishop of Salisbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the response by Lord Callanan on 14 December (HL Deb, col 1410), what specific steps they are taking to meet their tree planting target for (1) 2020, (2) 2021, and (3) any future years.
the Bishop of Salisbury: My Lords, I very much welcome the energy White Paper. One thing we have learned during this pandemic is the importance of the local. What assessment have the Government made of the further potential of local solar, wind and micro hydro energy schemes and of what finance might be needed to facilitate their collectively enormous potential? Given the comments in the other place about the lack of...
the Bishop of Salisbury: My Lords, the Government have made a number of statements, which, with the 10-point plan and the upping of the nationally defined contributions to the Paris Agreement, are very welcome. The Government’s manifesto commits to planting 30,000 hectares of trees per year. That is a really key target to aim for in relation to the climate change committee’s report, but it is one that we have...
the Bishop of Salisbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place (1) to prevent, and (2) to minimise the impact of, any environmental governance gap after 31 December.
the Bishop of Salisbury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the report by the Transition Pathway Initiative Management Quality and Carbon Performance of Energy Companies: September 2020, published on 7 October, what steps they plan to take to encourage fossil fuel intensive businesses to accelerate their move to net zero carbon emissions.
the Bishop of Salisbury: I thank the Minister for his Answer. There have been some welcome and notable commitments, particularly by European oil and gas companies, but overall, the sector is not moving fast enough to align with the Paris agreement. How does the Minister see the Government supporting companies to move faster and have consistent standards for reporting all emissions from scopes 1, 2 and 3 so companies...
the Bishop of Salisbury: My Lords, Ban Ki-moon, then General Secretary of the UN, said that the Paris climate change talks were the largest and most complex talks he had ever been part of. Some 12,000 people were in the discussions, with another nearly 50,000 gathered around them. What steps are the Government taking to ratchet up the engagement of the faith communities and other NGOs around the climate change talks...
the Bishop of Salisbury: My Lords, early this morning, I had breakfast on Zoom, hosted by my colleague the Bishop of Sherborne, along with people from the Dorset churches and community. A farmer and local businessman said that his greatest fear for the future was uncertainty. How will this uncertainty be ended so that he will not be left just watching this space but will know what opportunities there are? How will...
the Bishop of Salisbury: My Lords, I speak for all the Lords spiritual in welcoming this Statement about the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. It is a great privilege for me to be here in person this week and to pray each day with 30 or so Members before the business of this House commences in a way that is currently not allowed in any of the churches or cathedrals in this country. Has ever a prayer been so fully answered...
the Bishop of Salisbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reach their tree planting target as set out in the Tree Planting Strategy; and if they have not reached that target, what assessment they have made of the reasons why they have not done so.
the Bishop of Salisbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Institute of Zoology Living Planet Report, published in September, what steps they are taking to work with business to address species and habitat destruction caused by UK supply chains.
the Bishop of Salisbury: My Lords, the report from the IEA focuses on the impact of the pandemic on macro energy generation and distribution, and it emphasises the vulnerability of the national grid. The pandemic has emphasised the importance of the local, so how does the Minister see the Government’s role in encouraging the rapid development of local micro energy generation?
the Bishop of Salisbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the green homes grant on 8 July (HC Deb, col 976), whether (1) clergy housing, and (2) buildings open to the public and run by charities, such as churches, are eligible for that grant. [T]
the Bishop of Salisbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord True on 29 June (HL6029) and the remarks by the Home Secretary on 22 June that “appointments to the [Intelligence and Security] Committee are taking place and an announcement will be made in due course on when that will be coming forward” (HC Deb, col 1085), when they estimate they will be able to make the...
