Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of enforcement of electoral finance laws.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Electoral Commission are the independent body which oversees elections and regulates political finance in the UK. In accordance with the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, the Commission have a range of supervisory and investigatory powers which enable them to monitor compliance with electoral finance laws proactively and enforce suspected offences.
The Government considers the existing enforcement framework suitable to ensure that the regime is effective but does not cause a chilling effect on electoral participation and campaigning.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What steps she is taking to reduce NHS waiting times.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Cutting waiting lists is a top priority for this government. We are continuing to work with NHS England to deliver their plan for tackling the backlog and making good progress.
We have invested in expanding diagnostic and surgical capacity, creating 135 Community Diagnostics Centres and expanding our surgical hubs to 95 so far, supported by an additional £5.9bn capital investment. This is in addition to £8bn invested in elective recovery through to 2024/25.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to implement the recommendation of the APPG on Cycling and Walking in its report entitled Road justice, published in September 2023, on making exceptional hardship grounds available only on appeal in the Crown Court.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government does not have any plans to make any changes to the application of exceptional hardship.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether there are recorded majorities in the (a) House and (b) College of Bishops to (i) allow clergy to enter into same-sex civil marriages and (ii) remove the stipulation that currently requires celibacy for clergy in same-sex relationships.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The proceedings of these meetings of the House of Bishops and College of Bishops, including details of votes, are confidential. Both the College and the House decided that further work should be done on allowing clergy to enter into same sex marriages, and on the stipulation that currently requires celibacy for clergy in same-sex relationships. It is stated in the General Synod papers (GS2328 and annexes: gs-2328-llf-nov-2023.pdf (churchofengland.org) ), that there is ‘further work on the Ministry elements of the Pastoral Guidance including on clergy in same-sex marriages’. It is hoped that this work will be done as quickly as is possible.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether a further letter threatening legal action was sent to the (a) House and (b) College of Bishops between the end of the meeting of the College and the House meeting in October.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
Several items of correspondence were received over this period from a number of groups with different views, reflecting differing legal and theological opinions, as is widely in the public domain. Some offered a legal opinion on the routes of commendation or authorisation for the Prayers of Love and Faith, but I am not aware that any directly threatened the recipients with legal action.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether a draft form of Pastoral Guidance for Ministry has been (a) prepared and (b) shared with the (i) House and (ii) College of Bishops.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
Drafts of the section on Ministry in the Pastoral Guidance were shared with the College of Bishops and House of Bishops and on both occasions they asked for further work to be done. It is hoped that this will be completed as soon as possible, and I recognise that some are disappointed that this is not being brought to the November Synod.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the General Synod papers on Living in Love and Faith circulated on 20 October 2023 reflect the current position of the (a) House and (b)College of Bishops.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
Drafts of the material presented in the November Synod papers were seen and commented on by the College of Bishops and House of Bishops at their respective meetings on 18th September and 9th October. The papers for the November meeting of General Synod were drafted and agreed by the Chairs of the LLF steering group based on this feedback and noting the diversity of opinions held by the bishops.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what physical acts the Church refers to when teaching that sexual intimacy outside of marriage is forbidden.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The Living in Love and Faith process has always sought to recognise that the expression of sexual intimacy between two people cannot be reduced to a small set of defined actions.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Answer of 19 September 2023 to Question 198286 and to recommendation 5 in Appendix 1 of Sir Robert Chote's review, whether the dioceses’ annual returns on Lowest Income Communities Funding funding for 2022 will be published.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
A summary analysis of dioceses’ returns on their use of the Lowest Income Communities Funding in 2022 will be published next year in the Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board’s 2023 annual report to the Archbishops’ Council, which will be made publicly available as a General Synod (Misc) paper and on the Church of England website.
A summary analysis of dioceses’ returns on their use of the Lowest Income Communities Funding in 2021 was published in the Strategic Investment Board’s 2022 annual report to the Archbishops’ Council, which was published as a General Synod (Misc) paper and is available on the Church of England website at: final-version-2022-sib-annual-report-for-synod.pdf (churchofengland.org) (page 14 refers to the relevant information).
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decision to move the ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol cars from 2030 to 2035 on (a) consumers and (b) investor confidence in electric vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The decision to delay the complete ban of the sale of on petrol and diesel cars comes alongside the publication of the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate, which sets out one of the most ambitious pathways to zero emission vehicles of any major economy. Taken together, these represent a balanced decision, which allows people to choose to travel how they want, whilst giving investors’ confidence in our the Government’s future plans.