[1] He stated in the House of Lords on 8 February 2016 that he had spent his gap year making Land Rover Defenders and was auto-enrolled into the TGWU.

In 2000, Forster represented the Church of England at the world-wide synod of Roman Catholic bishops, held in Rome in the month of October.

In 2003, Forster raised controversy when answering a journalist's question by stating that homosexual people could "reorientate themselves" with the help of psychiatrists.

During his years as a member of the House of Lords, from 2001 to 2019, Forster initiated major debates on marriage, children and family life, and on the impact of pornography on society, as well as speaking on a wide range of topics.

In March 2019, he called for Parliament to agree to Theresa May's Brexit deal during a debate in the House of Lords.

[13] A priest who had been accused of sex offences 35 years earlier, wrote confidentially about the allegations in a letter to the bishop in 2009.

The letter came to light during a police investigation in 2017 of a previous Bishop of Chester, Victor Whitsey, who has been named in abuse cases as a paedophile.

There was a Church Disciplinary Measure (CDM) process against Forster, and while this was considered he agreed to delegate his safeguarding responsibilities to the suffragan Bishop of Birkenhead.

The bishop stated that he acted reasonably, and in accordance with the policy guidance which applied in 2009, and vigorously contested the allegation.