Budget Statement

Lord Bishop of Portsmouth Excerpts

Friday 12th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Portsmouth [V]]

My Lords, I welcome from the Bishops’ Bench the noble Lords, Lord Beynon, Lord Cruddas and Lord Khan of Burnley, and congratulate them on their speeches. I am looking forward to hearing them. I also welcome the noble Lord, Lord Bellingham, and my namesake, the noble Baroness, Lady Foster of Oxton.

Every Budget has consequences in every community, including those I serve as Bishop of Portsmouth. In these last comments that I shall make on a Budget Statement, I have four points on how this Budget is likely to make the sharp end sharper still for many, with little slack, even in better times. A decade on from the Dilnot report, there is still no proposal to address the social care challenge, even though apparently the Government have a package ready. We should have bitten this bullet years ago. We must bite it now.

Freezing income tax thresholds will level not up but down for many, squeezing household budgets, especially in the interaction with benefits, for those already squeezed. The extended uplift in universal credit offers some welcome respite for those at the sharp end, but it will be cold comfort to those facing a cliff edge as the nights draw in. Not a single word was uttered on meeting the needs of children, as Mark Russell, chief executive of the Children’s Society, pointed out. It is a startling omission.

I do not envy the choices facing the Chancellor. I applaud his attempts to improve the macroeconomic situation, but I am far from convinced that this Budget meets his objective of protecting those most in need.

Spending Review 2020

Lord Bishop of Portsmouth Excerpts

Thursday 3rd December 2020 Grand Committee

[The Lord Bishop of Portsmouth [V]]

My Lords, I was delighted to hear the Chancellor stress that the Government would continue to support the most vulnerable, but the proof of that assertion will be in how much money the Government are prepared to provide. That will be the barometer of what and who they consider most important. I therefore join my voice to those profoundly deprecating the proposed cut in development aid. I urge the Government to think again.

I also implore the Government to think again by deciding now to maintain the uplift in universal credit beyond the spring, and for it to apply to those on legacy benefits as well. That uplift has kept many from the cliff edge. They now face a winter of uncertainty, which is not ameliorated by warm words from Ministers. Moreover, 160,000 new claimants have had a grace period and not been subject to the benefit cap. That period now comes to an end, which means dreadful uncertainty for many in the run-up to Christmas. The justification that the cap incentivises work does not presently stand up; the jobs are not there to go to. Those who already have little risk suffering more. They are the new impoverished: resourceful, resilient and struggling; decent, hard-working, desperate people who cannot feed and care for themselves or their children. People are getting perilously near to the cliff edge.

It is good theology to attend to the voices of those on the margins. It is also good public policy. Leaving them in limbo is neither just nor kind.

Economy Update

Lord Bishop of Portsmouth Excerpts

Tuesday 10th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Agnew of Oulton (Con)]

I share my noble friend’s concern about the huge impact of indebtedness that has gone on to the country’s balance sheets over the last few months. He is entirely right that the burden of this will be borne by the next generation, not by those of us sitting in this Chamber. That is why we are so anxious to do everything possible to avoid these national lockdowns, which have the huge costs of supporting people and which throttle economic growth. We are seeing the largest fall in economic activity in my lifetime certainly—and maybe even longer. We must come together to regrow the economy as quickly as possible, because only growth will pay down this debt.

[The Lord Bishop of Portsmouth [V]]

My Lords, I welcome the Government’s desire to protect jobs and livelihoods, but can the Minister confirm that the extension of the furlough scheme until March—a full five months—is based on the assumption and expectation that those jobs, or at least the vast majority of them, will be ready to return to unchanged? That is a bold assumption. If it is not the case, what strategy do the Government have now for addressing the transitional challenges for those whose jobs will disappear? This Statement was made late, in haste. Tackling the jobs issue in March is tackling it too late.

[Lord Agnew of Oulton (Con)]

I share the concerns of the right reverend Prelate about jobs. The honest answer is that we do not have enough visibility on the impact to the economy beyond March. Coming out of lockdown, we saw a steady reduction in the number of people using the furlough scheme. It dropped every month from July to August to September. I do not have all the information yet, but hopefully it will be published shortly. The key is whether we can avoid extending this awful lockdown beyond 2 December. I am confident that if we can avoid that, we will see a rapid pick up of the economy, which will hopefully reduce the number of job losses that the right reverend Prelate is so concerned about.

Bank of England and Financial Services Bill [HL]

Lord Bishop of Portsmouth Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2015 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Portsmouth]

My Lords, this Bill offers an important way to confirm the Government’s commitment to promoting real diversity in the financial services sector. I want to make a very brief contribution in support of such diversity.

I hope that your Lordships will allow me a very mundane analogy, appropriate to someone like me—an amateur in this complex area. In the recent past, the international Anglican communion has been wrestling with the question of how its local ministry relates to global structures. I will not bore you with any details: there have been quite enough of those to contend with this evening already. Suffice it to say that at the heart of our deliberations has been the question of which aspects of church life are best agreed, shared and implemented internationally and which best happen locally. We have realised that, although global and national structures enable us to deliver much in terms of ministry, local delivery is of prime importance. When people think of the Church, they do not predominantly relate to international structures or even national bodies: they relate primarily to the local church and the local vicar, who may have helped them out when the going got tough.

For those of us close to the ground, in the banking sector in my lifetime, we have seen a shift from the local bank manager who knew your affairs and could guide you—we hoped—wisely and discreetly, to rather larger and often faceless multinational institutions that cannot relate, never mind respond, to localised needs of customers. Therefore, I want to place on record the importance today of credit unions, which—now that the building societies seem to have stepped away from local engagement—are often the best vehicle by which banking can take place responsibly and accountably within the local community. A requirement for the Bank of England, including the PRA and FCA, to consider diversity of provider would be a significant commitment to the benefit of both consumers and the wider economy. I invite the Minister to confirm on behalf of the Government that commitment to locally accountable, directly accessible facilities and advice, which are so important in our communities.