This Library Note provides an overview of the main arguments of the ResPublica report and provides broad context to some of the issues and themes raised in it.
Debate on 21 November: ResPublica Report 'Holistic Missions Social Action and the Church of England' (379 KB , PDF)
This report sets out the case for the Church of England to play an enlarged role in civil society as an enabler of holistic, inter-personalised, localised social action. This Library Note provides background reading in advance of the debate on the report. It presents an overview of the main arguments of the ResPublica report and provides broad context to some of the issues and themes raised in it. The Note sets out background to the Government’s Big Society agenda and then considers its view of faith groups, their role in civil society and their potential as providers of public services. The Note then discusses the Church of England in relation to the Big Society agenda and concludes with some further issues raised by commentators about faith groups’ role as public services providers.
Debate on 21 November: ResPublica Report 'Holistic Missions Social Action and the Church of England' (379 KB , PDF)
UK prime ministers may draw up a resignation honours list on their departure from office, in which they may request that the reigning monarch grant honours to any number of people. Such honours may include peerages, knighthoods and damehoods, or other awards. However, not all have chosen to draw up such a list. This briefing lists those prime ministers who have requested that peerages be conferred on their departure from office.
The House of Lords Constitution Committee has re-examined relations between the UK government and devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland following the introduction of new intergovernmental relations structures in January 2022 and its own earlier inquiry on the subject. In a report published in September 2024, the committee urged the government to add a new principle of positive engagement to the principles underpinning the new structures.
In November 2024, the House of Lords Statutory Inquiries Committee published a report examining public inquiries established under the Inquiries Act 2005. While recognising their positive impact, the committee criticised elements of the public inquiry system, such as governments failing to implement agreed inquiry recommendations. To address this, the committee proposed several reforms, including the formation of a parliamentary committee to oversee inquiries and ensure government accountability for implementing recommendations.
