The Bishops that spoke at the opening of Parliament were Alan Smith the Bishop of St Albans and Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani the Bishop of Chelmsford. A number of other members of the House of Lords have also spoken but it was very good to see the contribution of the two Bishops. The words from the Bishops is below and here is the words for the other speakers.

Bishop of St Albans

My Lords, I declare my interest as president of the Rural Coalition and add my congratulations to the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, on her new role.

As a long-term advocate for rural areas and the people who live and work in them, I know that our farmers and rural communities are uniquely placed to deliver the Government’s missions of clean energy, increased building and the need to protect and restore our environment. Rural communities and rural businesses play an absolutely crucial role in the economic and social fabric of our country.

I welcome His Majesty’s Government’s plans to introduce measures to tackle pollution in our rivers, lakes and waterways. In my diocese of St Albans, covering Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, we are home to several of this country’s beautiful chalk streams, which, despite being extraordinarily rare and precious habitats, have been utterly devastated by both extraction and pollution. For example, the River Ver in Hertfordshire has been found to have six times higher levels of E. coli than is acceptable in bathing water. Between March and June this year, sewage was discharged directly into the River Ver for more than 2,400 hours.

I appreciate that agricultural run-off is also a problem when it comes to ensuring that our rivers are kept clean and healthy. That is why it is vital that the Government work closely with Britain’s farmers, as well as investing in research and development for better fertilisers and solutions to reduce the volume of manure and slurry. There have, in fact, been planning applications for slurry storage or energy-efficient greenhouses turned down as a result of environmental considerations—an outcome that is not only frustrating but counterproductive to what we are trying to achieve. Local authorities need to have access to the appropriate expertise when making decisions on these applications. The planning practice guidance needs to be much clearer, with more flexibility built in so that farm businesses are able to build the infrastructure they need to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

I welcome warmly this Government’s recognition of the fact that food security is part of national security. I was pleased to see the pledge to source a minimum of 50% of government-procured food from British producers. It is encouraging to see that the security of British farming is high up on the agenda both for the public and the Government. This is why I echo the National Farmers’ Union’s call for an increased, multi-year agricultural budget to secure the future of Britain’s farming industry and to ensure that farmers and government can work together to move forward towards sustainable food production, environment targets and net zero. We need to work in collaboration with, not in opposition to, our vitally important farming sector.

Several noble colleagues on these Benches raised concerns during the passage of the recent Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act that the import of animals and animal product raised under welfare standards that would be illegal here are damaging British agricultural business. Battery-cage eggs and poultry production is banned here, yet our producers have been undercut by imported eggs and poultry reared to lower standards. I look forward to hearing more detail on His Majesty’s Government’s plans to ensure that our own producers are provided with a level playing field and to ensure that these safeguards are a central bedrock of any trade deals.

Finally, I would like to make a few comments on housing. We are all aware that this is a huge challenge; if there were lots of quick wins, the previous Government would have grabbed them straightaway. I am grateful for the approach being taken by Homes for All, the coalition trying to take a strategic and systemic approach to increasing housebuilding. My particular interest, over many years, is rural housing and the rural housing crisis. It is a problem that is different from the challenge of building in many urban centres. It is crucial the Government recognise the specificity of the housing crisis in rural areas and the way that this impacts rural communities differently, not least in ensuring long- term rural sustainability. We had hoped our previous Government would provide us with a long-term strategy; I hope that this Government will consider doing so.

Over many years, we have seen the closure of rural shops, schools and services from rural areas, partly linked to the lack of genuinely affordable housing. We have also seen the drain of young people and families—indeed, sometimes the elderly—as they are being forced to leave homes and communities, often where they have deep roots and have lived all their lives. Local communities need to be informing decisions around building new houses to ensure that they fit into the locality, as well as being well-designed and of good quality; ultimately, they need to strengthen the community. I call on His Majesty’s Government to consider, as part of their reforms to planning, introducing a planning passport for rural exemption sites which have been highlighted as an avenue of great potential for mitigating the housing crisis. Future policies need to be sensitive to rural housing. That is not just the responsibility of Defra; it must happen across all government departments. It is why we need proper rural-proofing applied systematically to all legislation that comes to your Lordships’ House.

With the right support and investment, the rural economy can add billions to the national economy, contributing towards this Government’s mission to kick-start economic growth, as well as holding the potential to play a vital part in making Britain a clean energy superpower. I look forward to working with the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, in the coming years on these issues and others for the common good of our nation.

Bishop of Chelmsford

My Lords, I declare my interest as the Church of England’s lead Bishop for housing. Along with other noble Lords, I very much look forward to the maiden speech of the noble Lord, Lord Fuller.

It is undeniable that the UK is in the midst of a housing crisis—one with deep roots. Too often, housing has been viewed as a financial asset rather than a fundamental human need. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, for the comments and commitments in his opening speech, but the housing crisis has been escalating for decades, so we should not underestimate just how long it will take to fix. Therefore, I cannot overstate the need for long-term thinking in tackling the housing crisis, a point well made by the noble Baroness, Lady Warwick.

A clear, long-term vision and a carefully thought-through strategy to provide decent, affordable homes for all can deliver three major goals of economic growth, social justice and environmental stewardship. That is why, along with my right reverend friend the Bishop of St Albans, I am pleased to support Homes for All—a vision for a long-term housing strategy supported by churches, charities, think tanks and others, which I commend to all noble Lords.

Here is just one example of the pitfalls of a failure to think strategically. Between 2021 and 2026, the previous Government allocated £11.5 billion to the affordable homes programme to subsidise the building of new affordable homes, but in the same period, the New Economics Foundation estimates that the Government are set to subsidise private landlords by more than £70 billion through housing benefit and the housing element of universal credit. We clearly have the balance wrong here. We should be using more of that funding to build up our stock of social homes, locking in the affordability for good, rather than subsidising private landlords, month in, month out; otherwise, the housing benefit bill will continue to rise without giving anyone in housing need the security that they deserve. I endorse the National Housing Federation’s call to double the affordable homes programme budget and build 90,000 new social homes a year, which it estimates will add £51 billion to the economy.

While it is true that we need to think long term to fix our broken housing system, people at the sharp end of this crisis need change now. Rough sleeping has risen by 27% in the last year, and 142,000 children are currently housed in temporary accommodation—as we know, families can spend months or even years in unsuitable, so-called temporary accommodation while they languish on the social housing waiting list, which currently stands at over 1 million. We proved that it was possible to make significant progress in tackling rough sleeping during the pandemic when we moved with urgency, so I would appreciate more clarity from the Minister about the Government’s ambition for ending rough sleeping.

Even for those who are housed, this can often be in insecure, unaffordable and poor-quality homes. One in five private renters now pays at least half of their income on rent. They cannot wait for decades for the housing market to provide more decent, affordable homes. We need both long-term planning and immediate action for those in acute housing need.

I urge the Government also to pay particular attention to people who spend their lives in the service of others, such as ministers of religion—there are others too—and to ensure that policy-making does not inadvertently make it more difficult to provide housing for them in retirement.

I am pleased that the Government have proposed a new renters’ rights Bill. It must offer renters and tenants a fair deal; extend the decent homes standard to the private rented sector; prevent discrimination against families with children and people in receipt of benefits; and abolish no-fault evictions to give tenants the security that they need. On that latter point, the details must be worked through carefully so that the Bill applies fairly to charities among a range of housing providers.

It might seem like an obvious point, but the primary duty of our housing system should be to provide quality homes for all. I welcome the Government’s plans to reform and better resource the planning system, and their ambition to build 1.5 million new homes during this Parliament. More housing means more opportunity—something which the Church has recognised, as we seek to use more of our own land for affordable housing.

It is not just about the volume of houses we build. We must also think about quality and affordability, as well as resilience to climate shocks. Will these new homes be, in the words of Coming Home, the report of the Archbishops’ Commission on Housing, Church and Community,

“sustainable, safe, stable, sociable and satisfying”?

These five values speak to our profound need for community, as we live with and among one another. New housing developments must be built with the social and physical infrastructure that supports people to thrive. The Church stands ready to help with this mission. While developers and local planners can focus on building houses, community groups, charities and faith groups are well placed to build the social support and relational connections which give these new communities a soul.

Housing is not just bricks and mortar. Our housing system should not primarily be an opportunity to amass assets and wealth. It is about people’s homes and their lives: where they get a good night’s sleep or finally relax on the couch after a long day at work; where they prepare food and eat with family and friends; where they should feel safe and secure. Housing policy must, first and foremost, serve the needs of the people. I look forward to working with the Minister in the coming years to see this vision become a reality.