Archbishop condemns benefit changes; Anglican bishops letter: benefit cuts will have ‘deeply disproportionate effect’; Church supports the call for more responsible lending; Church needed to fill gap left by end of Commission for Rural Communities; 100th anniversary of Mothering Sunday; Primus gives Spital Sermon in the City of London; How the United Kingdom has changed, 1971-2011; Jersey dean suspended over safeguarding failure
Archbishop condemns benefit changes
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has warned changes to the benefit system could drive children and families into poverty.
He said society had a duty to support the “vulnerable and in need”.
His comments backed an open letter from bishops criticising plans to limit rises in working-age benefits and some tax credits to 1% for three years.
The Department for Work and Pensions said tough decisions were necessary to keep costs of welfare sustainable.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that Archbishop Welby was “absolutely right” to speak out and described the proposals as “immoral”. More at –
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21731488
Anglican bishops letter: benefit cuts will have ‘deeply disproportionate effect’
The letter from 43 bishops to The Sunday Telegraph arguing benefits cuts will have a “deeply disproportionate” effect on children. Text in full –
Next week, members of the House of Lords will debate the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill.
The Bill will mean that for each of the next three years, most financial support for families will increase by no more than 1 per cent, regardless of how much prices rise.
This is a change that will have a deeply disproportionate impact on families with children, pushing 200,000 children into poverty. A third of all households will be affected by the Bill, but nearly nine out of 10 families with children will be hit.
These are children and families from all walks of life. The Children’s Society calculates that a single parent with two children, working on an average wage as a nurse would lose £424 a year by 2015. A couple with three children and one earner, on an average wage as a corporal in the British Army, would lose £552 a year by 2015.
However, the change will hit the poorest the hardest. About 60 per cent of the savings from the uprating cap will come from the poorest third of households. Only 3 per cent will come from the wealthiest third.
If prices rise faster than expected, children and families will no longer have any protection against this. This transfers the risk of high inflation rates from the Treasury to children and families, which is unacceptable.
Children and families are already being hit hard by cuts to support, including those to tax credits, maternity benefits, and help with housing costs. They cannot afford this further hardship penalty. We are calling on the House of Lords to take action to protect children from the impact of this Bill.
Names of signatories at –
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9920352/Anglican-bishops-letter-benefit-cuts-will-have-deeply-disproportionate-effect.html
Church supports the call for more responsible lending
The Church of England is supporting the strong stance taken by the Office of Fair Trading in giving the leading 50 payday lenders 12 weeks to change their business practices or risk losing their licenses.
Responding to the OFT report, Malcolm Brown, Director of the Church’s Mission and Public Affairs Team, said: “This report clearly shows that there are deep-seated problems with the way the whole payday loan market is operating at the moment. Many borrowers are already in a financially precarious position, and all too often payday loans are making their situation worse.”
Too many people are being granted loans that they cannot afford to repay, according to the OFT, and too much of the industry’s revenue – around a half – is reliant on customers who fail to repay their loans on time. Companies are also criticised for using aggressive debt collection practices and not making enough allowances for struggling borrowers. These problems are widespread across the industry, the OFT said.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, a strong supporter of Credit Unions, said: “I warmly welcome the action taken by the OFT which will contribute to improved access to affordable finance across England. In the longer term, in order to ensure that all members of society have access to affordable credit and other financial services, the development of Credit Unions and other forms of local finance is essential.”
Abbie Shelton from the Association of British Credit Unions Limited (ABCUL) argues that: “It is very unlikely that very short-term loans of a few weeks will be the right solution for most people, because this only stores up problems for later. If a loan is needed, spreading repayments over a few months will usually make more sense. Credit unions can also help people to look at their finances and get into a savings habit so that they do not have to rely on a short-term loan next time they are short of money.”
Payday loan companies and other high-interest lenders are excluded from the Church of England’s investment portfolios because of concerns about the exploitation of vulnerable and low income customers. In announcing this policy, the Church’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG) urged companies involved in the provision of short-term unsecured lending to do all they possibly could to ensure their business models kept interest rates as low as possible and that their loans were appropriate for customers’ circumstances.
Church needed to fill gap left by end of Commission for Rural Communities
A leading Professor in Social Renewal says the Church has a vital role to play both locally and nationally in lobbying on rural disadvantage, with the closure of the Government’s Commission for Rural Communities at the end of this month.
Professor Mark Shucksmith, who gave the General Synod’s Rural Affairs Group Lecture, said that in his view the Church can and should play a vital role, challenging people in rural communities to act in accordance with Christian values. He said that showing leadership, and preaching neighbourliness in action through social justice and compassion, will prove a vital lifeline for rural communities, where housing is generally unaffordable for people on local wages.
He said that the Church could also have an important role in lobbying at national level for action to address rural disadvantage – especially important after the Commission for Rural Communities is abolished on 31st March.
Professor Shucksmith, Director of the Institute for Social Renewal at Newcastle University added that the Church may also be able to make a practical contribution through its land and buildings, along with the time and commitment of their members.
His presentation to the Rural Affairs Group was entitled: “Is an exclusive countryside inevitable?”
The Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Revd Anthony Priddis, a member of the Rural Affairs Group said: “I fully welcome this encouragement for the Church to continue to engage and speak out on issues affecting our rural communities. We face many of these issues in my own diocese of Hereford and this is a stark reminder for us all to take action.”
100th anniversary of Mothering Sunday
One hundred years after the campaign to re-establish Mothering Sunday was launched at Coddington in Nottinghamshire, the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler, is calling for a celebration of thanksgiving for mothers and motherhood to mark the centenary.
Bishop Paul Butler said: “This diocese has a special connection with Mothering Sunday, going back to the initiative of Constance Penswick-Smith from one of our parishes who put the day on the national agenda again. Mothering is something we all need at times although it’s something we can take for granted. This year I’m especially aware of all those children and young people who don’t have mothers or even fathers and are without the care and love of a family. In Southwell and Nottingham we’re asking parishes to focus on the work of Family Care – our local adoption and family support agency that gives practical help to children and young people. This special Mothering Sunday is an opportunity to think and pray for mothers and pray about how we can be a ‘mother’ to someone who desperately needs care and love.”
The Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham also urged people to celebrate mothering Sunday by posting online prayers at www.prayoneforme.org giving thanks for their mothers and remembering too those for whom the day is difficult due to bereavement or family breakdown. He was joined giving thanks by Bernadette Kenny, Chief Executive of the Church of England Pensions Board, who speaks of her own thanks for mothers in a special video message on the Church of England website, at www.churchofengland.org.
In 1913 Constance Penswick-Smith (1878-1938), the daughter of the vicar of Coddington, Nottinghamshire, caught the vision to celebrate Mothering Sunday. Later in 1921 Constance wrote a booklet asking for a full revival of Mothering Sunday, eventually founding The Society for the Observance of Mothering Sunday and spending more than 25 years promoting the celebration of the festival. Thanks mainly to Constance’s efforts, Mothering Sunday – which has its roots in the pre-Reformation Church – has been widely observed and re-established across the Church of England, and celebrated in wider society.
Primus gives Spital Sermon in the City of London
The Most Rev David Chillingworth, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, was the preacher on Thursday at the Spital Sermon at St Lawrence Jewry in the City of London.
The sermon is traditionally preached by a bishop on the theme ‘The Spread of Truth’ and is part of a Service which is attended by the Lord Mayor of London and the Aldermen. Bishop David was invited by the Lord Mayor, Alderman Roger Gifford.
How the United Kingdom has changed, 1971-2011
Telegraph – The Office for National Statistics has been surveying the people about their lives continually since the 1970s, revealing how households have become smaller, fewer people marry and how our alcohol and smoking habits have changed.
Bigger houses, fewer people
The number of people living in each household has fallen from nearly three people in the 1970s to only 2.4 today. Today people are also more likely to own their home, and their home is likely to be larger.
Fewer marriages
People today are much more likely to split up, or even not get married in the first place. Under half of women today aged between 18 and 49 are married. In the seventies nearly three quarters of women were married.
Less smoking
The number of people who smoke has fallen remarkably in the last 40 years. Only a fifth of people smoke today, compared to nearly half in 1971.
However, the number of cigarettes smoked by men and women has changed little since the early 1980s.
But many people have smoked in the past
Although only a fifth of people consider themselves to be smokers, over 40 per cent of people have smoked cigarettes regularly in the past.
Drinking
Only five per cent of those aged under 24 admit to having had a drink in the last week, compared to more than a fifth of those aged 45-64. When younger people drink, they tend to drink more heavily than older generations, but they also tend to have longer periods with no alcohol.
This contrast could be attributed to the rising cost of alcohol in the last decade.
Jersey dean suspended over safeguarding failure
The Dean of Jersey has been suspended following the publication of a report that found safeguarding policies had not been properly implemented.
The Very Reverend Robert Key’s suspension relates to complaints made in 2008 by a vulnerable adult parishioner alleging abusive behaviour by a Churchwarden in Jersey.
The report into Mr Key’s handling of the case was compiled by the Diocese of Winchester’s Safeguarding Panel.
It raises concerns that he did not comply with key safeguarding procedures in dealing with the complaints.
These include an apparent failure to take the complaint seriously, a perceived lack of neutrality, poor communication and lack of action.
The decision to suspend Mr Key was taken by the Bishop of Winchester, the Right Reverend Tim Dakin, who is responsible for the Church of England in the Channel Islands.
The bishop said he was “particularly disappointed” that Mr Key had “refused to cooperate with the review”.
He has ordered an “immediate and thorough” investigation into Mr Key’s conduct of the case.
“Firstly I want to give my unreserved apologies to the complainant for her treatment. Protecting the vulnerable is at the heart of the Church of England’s mission,” said Bishop Dakin.
“With that comes a duty to ensure those in need are properly looked after. It is vital that robust safeguarding policies are in place and, above all, that they are properly implemented.
“In the wake of the report, difficult but necessary and decisive actions are required to ensure that, in the future, procedures will be followed properly.”
Andrew Robinson, Chief Executive of the Diocese of Winchester said, “The diocese takes its safeguarding duties very seriously.
“This is why we commissioned the independent report and is why we have taken action to ensure our safeguarding polices are robust and adhered to.
“We are determined to learn from the mistakes made in this particular case and shall be enhancing our safeguarding procedures and policies.”