Valedictory speech of the Archbishop of Canterbury
Probably the biggest Parliamentary news was the valedictory speech of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the House of LordsFootnote 1 – which attracted a good deal of criticism and for which he subsequently apologised.Footnote 2
Second church estates commissioner
In October 2024, Marsha de Cordova, Labour MP for Battersea, was appointed Second Church Estates Commissioner.
Ecclesiastical committee
In January 2025, the Speakers of the two Houses appointed the members of the Ecclesiastical Committee, with Baroness Butler-Sloss GBE, as the Chair.Footnote 3
Special envoy for freedom of religion or belief
As we have previously noted, the Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief Bill, a private Member’s bill sponsored in the last Parliament by Fiona Bruce MP which would have put the role of Special Envoy on a formal footing and required every Prime Minister to appoint one, was a casualty of the dissolution in 2023. Subsequently there were various attempts to raise the matter of a new appointment, most recently by way of a private Member’s bill which failed to be given a second reading on 29 November. On 11 December, however, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office announced that David Smith, Labour MP for North Northumberland, had been appointed as the UK Special Envoy. He took up his appointment in the New Year.
Burial and cremation law in England and Wales
At the beginning of October, the Law Commission launched its consultation on burial and cremation law in England and Wales, which closed on 9 January.Footnote 4 This is the first part of a three-stage consultation: the second stage will cover new funerary methods and the third will look at rights and obligation relating to funerals, funerary methods and remains.
Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Act
The Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Bill, which will extend the operation of the 2015 Act for a further five years until 18 May 2030, completed its Commons stages in December. It received Royal Assent on 16 January.
Bishops in the House of Lords
In January, Baroness Harman tabled a new clause to the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) BillFootnote 5 which, if enacted, would begin the process of removing the Lords Spiritual from the Upper House:
After Clause 1, insert the following new Clause –
‘Proposals for removing the Lords Spiritual
(1) The Secretary of State must, within two years of the day on which this Act is passed, lay before Parliament a paper setting out proposals to remove the membership of the Lords Spiritual from the House of Lords.
(2) The paper must include, but is not limited to, proposals to –
(a) remove the Lords Spiritual from membership of the House of Lords,
(b) remove or replace the functions of the Lords Spiritual in the proceedings of the House of Lords, and
(c) lay provisions for consequential changes to legislation, standing orders and running of the House of Lords to be made following the removal of the Lords Spiritual.
(3) Nothing in the proposals may prevent a person who is, or has been, a bishop or Archbishop of the Church of England from receiving, and exercising the entitlements under, a peerage for life in accordance with section 1 of the Life Peerages Act 1958 (power to confer life peerages).’
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill,Footnote 6 introduced on 16 October by Kim Leadbeater, Labour MP for Spen Valley, was given a second reading on 29 November by 330 votes to 275. It was committed to a Public Bill Committee with ‘the power to send for persons, papers and records’ – i.e. to take evidence – and the Institute for Government notes that this was the first occasion on which the power to take evidence had been given to a committee on a private Member’s bill.Footnote 7
The Charity Commission and safeguarding in the Church of England
Attention has been drawn to safeguarding in the Church of England since the publication of Makin Review and the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Charity Commission has sought meetings with all trustees and senior staff of the National Church Institutions to discuss the situation and the steps being taken to address the concerns set out by the Makin Review. Ahead of the February 2025 session of the General Synod, the Charity Commission also wrote to the bishops and to all members of the General Synod highlighting their roles and responsibilities as trustees of the Church of England’s National Church Institutions and explaining the powers of the Commission.
At the February session of the General Synod, the Church of England will be bringing forward new proposals to deliver national-level safeguarding. It should also be noted that the debate on the redress scheme has been delayed until the meeting of the Synod in July 2025, while further consultation is undertaken following the publication of the Makin Review.
Mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse
The Regulated and Other Activities (Mandatory Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse) Bill [HL],Footnote 8 a Lords private Member’s bill introduced by Baroness Grey-Thompson, was given a second reading on 17 January and the Bishop of London spoke in its support. It was committed to a Committee of the whole House; whether it will make further progress remains to be seen.
Marriage (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) bill
On 10 December Richard Holden, Conservative MP for Basildon and Billericay, was given leave under the Ten-Minute Rule to bring in a Bill ‘to prohibit the marriage of first cousins; and for connected purposes’. Although Iqbal Mohamed, Independent MP for Dewsbury and Batley, spoke in opposition to the Bill, leave was granted without a division. The Bill was set down for second reading on 17 January and was objected to on that occasion; it is therefore unlikely to progress any further.
Holden also asked the Second Church Estates Commissioner a written question in December, ‘whether the Church plans to amend the Table of Kindred and Affinity to exclude first cousins from marriage’. She replied that ‘The Table of Kindred and Affinity is part of the Book of Common Prayer. The Book of Common Prayer can be changed by a Measure from the General Synod of the Church of England, which would come to Parliament for approval in the usual manner. The Church of England has no plans currently to change the text’.Footnote 9
Humanist weddings in England and Wales
In October, there was a short debate in the House of Lords on humanist weddings. Baroness Thornton asked the Government whether they planned to give legal recognition to humanist weddings, to which Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice, replied:
The Government understand humanists’ strength of feeling about legally recognising humanist weddings. I know that this strength of feeling extends to many within this House. As a new Government, we must look closely at the details of any proposed changes before setting out our position, which we will do in due course.Footnote 10
The House returned to the matter in December, when Lord Ponsonby reiterated the Government’s position:
My Lords, there are a lot of anomalies within weddings arrangements in England and Wales, and it is for that reason that we want to look at all of them. If we were to go down the route of secondary legislation for humanists, for example, that would create a further anomaly. We do not want to go down that track; we want to look at the whole system in the round.Footnote 11
Which is unsurprising: the Government has not yet published its response to the Law Commission’s report, Celebrating Marriage: A New Weddings Law, on the reform of weddings law in England and Wales.
‘Protecting Built Heritage’
In December, the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee announced an inquiry into ‘Protecting Built Heritage’ – which has obvious implications for faith-groups, not least in relation to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. It invited responses to the following questions:
i. What are the most significant challenges facing owners and operators of built heritage assets, and how are they affecting what those sites can offer? What interventions are needed to prevent the managed decline of heritage assets on publicly-owned land? What can the Government do to make it easier for communities or local businesses to take ownership of historic buildings?
ii. How effective are the current funding and finance models for built heritage? What should long-term public funding for the sector look like?
iii. What role does built heritage play in the regeneration of local areas and in contributing to economic growth and community identity? How can heritage buildings be supported to increase energy efficiency and contribute to the Government’s net zero targets?
iv. What are the financial, regulatory and practical barriers to preserving built heritage? What policy changes are needed to make restoring historic buildings easier and less expensive?
v. What policies would ensure that the UK workforce has the right skills to maintain our heritage assets?Footnote 12
The call for evidence was to close on 3 February.
Listed places of worship grant scheme
On 22 January, the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, Chris Bryant MP, made a written statement on the continuation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.Footnote 13 The Scheme is to continue for a further financial year until 31 March 2026, but with limitations: there will be an annual limit of £25,000 on the amount that individual places of worship will be able to claim and an overall limit on the fund of £23 million. Not, perhaps, ideal – but rather better than half a loaf and considerably better than no loaf at all.
