Autumn Budget 2025

Lord Bishop of Manchester Excerpts

Thursday 4th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Manchester]

My Lords, I congratulate my right reverend friend the Bishop of Portsmouth on his excellent maiden speech. Not least as our lead Bishop on education, I believe he will have an immediate and valuable contribution to make to the remaining stages of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. He and I first met as opponents on the cricket field many years ago; I am sure he will build as long and solid an innings here in your Lordships’ House as ever he did at the wicket.

I also join many noble Lords in adding my deepest thanks to the Government for bringing the two-child limit to an end. I never felt it right or just to push a child into poverty simply for having too many sisters or brothers; it makes even less sense when we badly need a birth rate that will provide Britain with tomorrow’s workforce without having to rely on migration to fill the labour market gaps. I look forward to seeing the wider child poverty strategy.

I further welcome moves to reduce household energy bills, changes on apprenticeships, and the freeze on rail fares. Gambling addiction remains a blight on our nation, especially online, so I support the increase in tax on online sites. My right reverend friend the Bishop of Hereford is currently attending on His Majesty and hence is not in his seat; I know that he would like attention drawn to how the Budget impacts the farming community, particularly family farms, and the rural economy. I was going to say more, but the noble Lord, Lord Inglewood, has pipped me to the post—and with rather more colourful words than I might have mustered myself.

A 19th-century Act of Parliament determined that vicars should live in their benefices. Residence ensures that parishioners have easy access to them and that the vicar is a visible face on the streets of the parish, not merely another middle-class commuter. The modern vicarage is rarely as large and luxurious as some of former times; however, it needs not only to accommodate the priest and their household but to host meetings, provide a meeting place for parishioners, and provide study and office space. In many parts of London and the south-east, location factors mean that even in a relatively poor parish, the vicarage will have a capital value over the £2 million threshold for what we are learning to call the “mansion tax”. Few parishes will be able to pay this additional tax, nor can dioceses simply absorb the costs. If we are to maintain the important principle of clergy living where they serve, including those from other denominations, I urge the Minister to meet with church representatives so that we can discuss how the existing tax exemptions applying to the residences of ministers of religion can perhaps be extended.

Finally, places of worship are often anchor buildings on our high streets and in village centres. Their work is not just on Sunday mornings but throughout the week, with activities from pre-school groups to a warm welcome for the lonely, including a growing network of baby banks—several have started in my own diocese—which tackle poverty among families with very young children. Work to repair and improve such properties is not cheap, but it is vital if they are to continue to serve their communities and help to sustain flourishing village centres and high streets. Much-needed renovation and improvement work is currently being stalled by the lack of a secure, long-term future for the listed places of worship repair scheme. Will the Minister commit to reviewing the future of this vital scheme so that it can be extended in time, and commit to withdrawing the harmful limit of £25,000 a year, which was introduced only recently and makes many larger refurbishments unaffordable?