Bishop of Hereford to retire later this year

THE Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Revd Richard Frith, will retire in the autumn, his diocese has announced. Bishop Frith, who is 69, has been in his current post since 2014, when he was translated from the see of Hull. Bishop Frith said that he thanked God “daily” for the privilege of serving as Bishop of Hereford, and would be sad to leave. He also chairs the General Synod’s rural affairs group and is vice-chair of the Liturgical Commission.

Church leaders castigate immigration proposals

DOZENS of senior church leaders marked the Epiphany by sending an open letter strongly criticising the Government’s post-Brexit immigration plans. The letter called the recent immigration White Paper “misguided and disjointed”, and said that “urgent action” was needed to create a more “humane” system. Family reunion must be permitted, a time limit imposed on detention, and all asylum-seekers given the right to work after six months, they wrote. The letter has been signed by the Archbishop of Wales, the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Bishops of Croydon, St Davids, and Lewes, and Baptist, Quaker, United Reformed Church, and other Free Church leaders.

Children’s Society offers cautious welcome to NHS plan

THE new ten-year plan for the NHS has encouraging goals, but must be delivered with greater urgency and more funding, the Children’s Society has said. The Prime Minister unveiled the plan earlier this week, but the Society’s chief executive, Matthew Reed, said that he was disappointed in how long it would take to roll out better mental-health support for children in schools. He welcomed, however, the ambition to support children up to the age of 25, not just 18, and new waiting-time targets.