In 1328, he was involved in playing an administrative role in drawing up a treaty at Holyrood Abbey between King Robert I of Scotland and the English crown.
He still held the latter position until the early 1341's, but probably resigned soon after Bell moved to become a canon of St Andrews.
He does not appear to have obtained Papal confirmation, and in February 1342 resigned the rights acquired by election to facilitate the Pope's preferred candidate William de Landallis.
He returned to Scotland with the new bishop, re-entered St Andrews Cathedral Priory as an Augustinian canon, and died on 7 February 1343.
Bell was apparently blind at the time of his death only a decade later, and it is not known if this had anything to do with the Papacy's decision.