HANSARDCommons10 Sept 202014 contributions
Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body
The right hon. Member for East Hampshire, representing the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body, was asked—
Church Commissioners
The hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked—
Overseas Aid and Development
What (a) steps the Church of England is taking and (b) recent discussions the Church of England has had with the Government on overseas aid and development.
The pandemic has worsened poverty and hunger in many developing countries. In response, the Archbishop of Canterbury has launched the Together In Unity Appeal to help vulnerable communities across the Anglican communion. The Church is in regular contact with Ministers and envoys to discuss a range of development and freedom of religion and belief issues.
I very much welcome the Church’s work in this area. Does the Church share my view that the merger of the Foreign Office with the Department for International Development must not lead to the UK abandoning its commitment to the 0.7% target, and that every penny counted against that target should genuinely be spent on aid and development purposes?
Yes, absolutely. The Church is pleased that the Government have publicly committed both to spending 0.7% of gross national income on aid and to maintaining the OECD definition of overseas development assistance.
Racial Discrimination
If he will publish an update on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s steps to tackle racial discrimination in the Church of England.
In July, both archbishops launched an anti-racism taskforce to assess progress in implementing past recommendations to the Church in this area. The report will be concluded before the end of the year, and then an archbishops’ commission will be formed to produce recommendations for action on combating racism.