Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Bill [Lords]

Debate between Richard Holden and Abena Oppong-Asare

2nd reading
Thursday 14th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Ms Oppong-Asare]

My hon. Friend is right to raise that point. That is why I am delighted that she is in the role that she now holds—I know that she will champion this issue really well. Representation at all levels is important, and I will be looking to see what the Church of England does to strengthen its diversity in that area.

This Bill is about the role of a number of Lords Spiritual. It simply aims to extend the provisions of the 2015 Act to ensure that more female bishops enter into the House of Lords.

[Mr Holden]

Reflecting some of the comments that the hon. Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova) has made, would it not be great to see some more Cross-Bench peers in the House of Lords drawn from the retired bishops, particularly the female bishops? Perhaps they could go through the appointments process for people who have contributed to public life.

[Ms Oppong-Asare]

I thank the hon. Member for that helpful suggestion, which could be examined at the next stage. I know that he did a lot of work in this area, particularly as an adviser when this policy was being taken forward in the House of Lords, so I welcome his insight into this area.

The contributions to this debate have been extremely powerful. I know that there have been lengthy conversations about this Bill in the other place.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Richard Holden and Abena Oppong-Asare

Thursday 25th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Ms Oppong-Asare]

I welcome my hon. Friend to his place, and thank him for his earlier public service in the Royal Marines. I agree with the points that he has raised, and I, too, thank the key workers for all that they did to support and protect us during the pandemic.

The Government will certainly ensure that lessons are learned from the inquiry and the response to the pandemic, and we will take the necessary time to consider the inquiry’s report and assess our resilience in respect of the full range of risks that the United Kingdom faces. Last week the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced that he would chair a committee for resilience, which will improve our health sector, increasing public trust in the Government and kick-starting our economic growth, as well as improving resilience across the UK.

[Mr Richard Holden (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

Resilience is incredibly important for our country, and it is key to ensure that people in government are working towards that. The last Government mandated that every civil servant had to be in the office for at least three days a week, moving back from what we saw during the covid pandemic. What will the Government do to ensure that our entire civil service workforce is on the frontline and working closely together to ensure that national resilience is embedded across our public sector?

[Ms Oppong-Asare]

I thank the right hon. Member for his question. As I said, it is important that, as a Government, we work strongly together across the UK. As the Prime Minister mentioned on day one, he will be working with his devolved Government counterparts, and he has announced a Council of the Nations and Regions. That will include our working across all civil service departments to make sure that we learn from the lessons of the past.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Ms Abena Oppong-Asare)]

I thank my hon. Friend for the question; I know that the issue is close to his heart, as it is to mine. The publication of the report will mark an important milestone for the Grenfell community, and Parliament will have the opportunity to provide the full and proper scrutiny that the issues deserve. As my hon. Friend said, it is important that bereaved families are also part of that process, and we will work closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ensure that all those residents are part of it. The Government will do everything possible to drive the change to ensure that lessons are learned and that a tragedy such as the Grenfell Tower fire can never happen again.

[Mr Richard Holden (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

T7. In 2005, the tax gap was 7.4%; in 2022-23, the previous Government cut it down to 4.8% Is there a cross-Government mission or target to close the tax gap further?