Baroness Browning Portrait

Baroness Browning

Conservative - Life peer

Became Member: 9th July 2010


2 APPG memberships (as of 24 Jan 2024)
Dementia, Parkinson's
1 Former APPG membership
Metal, Stone and Heritage Crime
Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee
1st Jul 2019 - 31st Jan 2023
Procedure and Privileges Committee
8th Jun 2015 - 31st Jan 2023
European Union Committee
25th May 2016 - 17th Oct 2018
EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee
26th May 2016 - 16th Oct 2018
Equality Act 2010 and Disability Committee
11th Jun 2015 - 15th Mar 2016
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill (Joint Committee)
25th Nov 2015 - 11th Feb 2016
Liaison Committee (Lords)
16th May 2012 - 30th Mar 2015
The Arctic
12th Jun 2014 - 11th Feb 2015
Mental Capacity Act 2005 Committee
16th May 2013 - 25th Feb 2014
Minister of State (Home Office)
1st May 2011 - 16th Sep 2011
Public Accounts Committee
17th Jul 2007 - 6th May 2010
Deputy Chair, Conservative Party
1st Aug 2005 - 31st Jul 2007
Draft Mental Incapacity Bill (Joint Committee)
1st Jan 2003 - 9th Oct 2006
Standards and Privileges
24th Mar 2004 - 24th Jul 2006
Draft Mental Health Bill (Joint Committee)
29th Apr 2004 - 31st Jan 2006
Vice-Chair, Conservative Party
1st Aug 2001 - 31st Jul 2005
Public Accounts Committee
20th Jul 2004 - 11th Jul 2005
Public Accounts Committee
10th Jul 2003 - 17th Nov 2003
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
26th Sep 2000 - 18th Sep 2001
Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission
25th Oct 1999 - 11th May 2001
Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
15th Jun 1999 - 26th Sep 2000
Shadow Spokesperson (Education and Employment)
11th Jun 1997 - 2nd Jun 1998
Parliamentary Secretary (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food)
20th Jul 1994 - 2nd May 1997


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Baroness Browning has voted in 288 divisions, and 9 times against the majority of their Party.

23 Feb 2021 - Trade Bill - View Vote Context
Baroness Browning voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 33 Conservative Aye votes vs 188 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 367 Noes - 214
11 Feb 2021 - Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (Claimants previously entitled to a severe disability premium) Amendment Regulations 2021 - View Vote Context
Baroness Browning voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 2 Conservative Aye votes vs 215 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 303 Noes - 248
2 Feb 2021 - Trade Bill - View Vote Context
Baroness Browning voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 40 Conservative Aye votes vs 165 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 359 Noes - 188
20 Oct 2020 - Agriculture Bill - View Vote Context
Baroness Browning voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 11 Conservative Aye votes vs 183 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 278 Noes - 200
24 Jun 2020 - Fisheries Bill [HL] - View Vote Context
Baroness Browning voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 2 Conservative Aye votes vs 208 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 291 Noes - 249
15 Jun 2020 - Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 - View Vote Context
Baroness Browning voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 43 Conservative Aye votes vs 125 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 112 Noes - 388
21 Jun 2022 - Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2022 - View Vote Context
Baroness Browning voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 13 Conservative Aye votes vs 88 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 28 Noes - 181
15 May 2023 - Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill - View Vote Context
Baroness Browning voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 16 Conservative Aye votes vs 147 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 245 Noes - 154
13 Jun 2023 - Public Order Act 1986 (Serious Disruption to the Life of the Community) Regulations 2023 - View Vote Context
Baroness Browning voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 7 Conservative Aye votes vs 136 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 177 Noes - 141
View All Baroness Browning Division Votes

Debates during the 2019 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Lord Markham (Conservative)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
(33 debate interactions)
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
(24 debate interactions)
Lord True (Conservative)
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
(5 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Department of Health and Social Care
(39 debate contributions)
Cabinet Office
(8 debate contributions)
Home Office
(3 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
Legislation Debates
Agriculture Act 2020
(552 words contributed)
View All Legislation Debates
View all Baroness Browning's debates

Lords initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Baroness Browning, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.


1 Bill introduced by Baroness Browning


Following agreement by both Houses on the text of the Bill it received Royal Assent on 28 February. The Bill is now an Act of Parliament (law). A Bill to amend the law relating to scrap metal dealers; and for connected purposes.

This Bill received Royal Assent on 28th February 2013 and was enacted into law.

Baroness Browning has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 21 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
7th Jun 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases of suicide have been reported by (1) coroners, and (2) other sources, since the establishment of the coroner focal point in March 2016.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has recorded 22 contacts related to possible suicides via its Coroner focal point since 2016.

Coroners determine the cause of death, including whether it is by suicide. Coroners do not routinely inform the department when they return a conclusion of suicide in a case where the deceased person was claiming benefits. There is no requirement for them to do so, unless they have named it as an Interested Person at that inquest, or they decide to send it a Prevention of Future Deaths report.

DWP becomes aware of the majority of deaths through the Tell Us Once (TUO) service. It is offered by all 391 councils across England, Scotland and Wales on behalf of DWP. This service lets citizens report a death to most government organisations in one go. Once verified, the Customer Information System (CIS), a cross-government system, is updated and DWP will take the appropriate action on a case.

However, this service does not notify DWP of the cause or circumstances of a death, and DWP has no legitimate business reason to obtain or record this information.

Viscount Younger of Leckie
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
7th Jun 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government how many reviews the Serious Case Panel has conducted into the death by suicide of benefits claimants since its establishment.

The Serious Case Panel does not discuss individual cases, but the panel considers specific themes that emerge from internal process reviews (IPRs). The IPR process is how the DWP investigates individual cases to document the learning. Whilst several themes will have been drawn from serious cases where suicide featured in some of the customer journeys, the specific cases would not be discussed during the meeting.

Viscount Younger of Leckie
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
7th Jun 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the Department for Work and Pension's Serious Case Panel has met since its establishment in March 2020.

The Serious Case Panel has convened, since March 2020, on 13 occasions with the 14th Panel due to meet on 20/6/23.

The minutes are available on GOV.UK: DWP Serious Case Panel - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Viscount Younger of Leckie
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
7th Jun 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Prevention of Death reports the Department for Work and Pensions has received from coroners in each year from 2019 to 2022 inclusive.

I am happy to provide a breakdown by year as follows:

  • One report in 2019 (relating to a death in January of that year).
  • No reports in 2020.
  • Three reports in 2021, relating to deaths from May 2017, October 2019 and April 2020.
  • No reports in 2022.
  • For the purposes of completeness, I can add that the department has so far received no reports in 2023.
Viscount Younger of Leckie
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
7th Jun 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what training in customer mental health they give to contractors providing assessments of benefits claimants.

We are fully committed to supporting those with mental health conditions. The assessment of mental, cognitive, and intellectual function is an integral part of the assessment process.

All healthcare professionals (HPs) undertaking assessments on behalf of the department must be registered practitioners who have undergone comprehensive training in the functional assessment of disability, and mental health conditions. HPs continue to keep this knowledge up to date through continuous professional development.

In addition, mental health function champions support HPs by providing additional expertise about mental health, cognitive, developmental, and learning disabilities, and can be referred to at any time during the assessment process.

Viscount Younger of Leckie
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
12th Apr 2021
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that people with learning disabilities have (1) training on, and (2) access to, IT, so that they are not isolated from information and services.

Government’s Plan for Jobs provides new funding to ensure more people, including those with learning disabilities get tailored Jobcentre Plus support to help them find work and to build the skills they need to get into work. This includes £895 million to recruit an additional 13,500 Work Coaches which the Department is on track to achieve by Quarter 1 2021/22, and £2.9 billion invested in the Restart Programme, which is due to go live from summer 2021. The Restart Programme will support individuals who have been unemployed for over 12 months and through regular, personalised support providers will work with participants to identify the best way to support them into sustained employment.

From April 2021, the Disability Employment Advisors (DEA) Direct Support will be strengthened to include an element of Direct Support to customers with health condition or disability who require additional support over and above the ESA and Universal Credit core offer. DEA Direct Support will deliver work focussed bespoke support to move individuals with a disability or health condition towards a work outcome.

In addition, the Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme provides highly personalised packages of employment support for disabled people who want to work but have complex needs or barriers and require specialist support to achieve sustained employment. People will get coaching, work experience, and a dedicated key worker who will work with them to overcome complex barriers, including lack of IT skills, which may be preventing them from entering work.

The Help to Claim service provides all UC customers with tailored, practical support at every step of their claim until they receive their first payment. It includes help with setting up an email address or a UC account, verifying identity, accessing a DWP home visit or preparing for their first payment. At a local level, there are a range of digital inclusion courses available, which a work coach can help a learning disabled jobseeker access.

18th Mar 2021
To ask Her Majesty's Government what definitions they use for the purpose of assessing health and welfare needs for (1) severe disability, (2) long-term disability, and (3) terminal illness.

Other than the definition for people who are terminally ill, there is no common definition used for assessing health and welfare needs. What is meant by “severe disability” and/or “long-term disability” will be specific to the benefits or schemes which apply them and could be defined in the legislation applicable and/or the guidance available. The definition of whether a person is “terminally ill” is that they “suffer from a progressive disease and their death in consequence of that disease can reasonably be expected within 6 months.”

28th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address barriers to discharge from mental health inpatient units for autistic people and people with learning disabilities related to the provision of (1) suitable housing, and (2) social care support.

On 26 January 2024, we published statutory guidance on discharge from mental health inpatient settings. This guidance sets out key principles for how National Health Service bodies and local authorities across adult and children’s services should work together to support people to be discharged from mental health inpatient services, including mental health inpatient services for people with a learning disability and for autistic people. This guidance states that strong links should be made with relevant community services prior to, and during, the person’s stay in hospital, and that this should include links in relation to meeting the person’s needs related to health, social care, education, housing, and any other individual needs.

In 2023/24, we are investing an additional £121 million to improve community support, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. This includes funding for children and young people’s keyworkers. We continue to support the delivery of new supported housing by providing capital subsidies to providers, through the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund and the Affordable Homes Programme in England. We have also made available up to £8.6 billion over this and next financial year, to support adult social care and discharge.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
28th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews are taking place within recommended timeframes, and that recommendations arising from those reviews are being acted on.

NHS England published updated policy and guidance on both Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (C(E)TRs) and Dynamic Support Registers (DSRs) on 25 January 2023, for implementation from 1 May 2023, to help ensure people get the support they need to stay well in their communities. This includes guidance on the timescales for C(E)TRs and on ensuring that actions are taken forward.

NHS England produced the updated policy and guidance following a process of reviewing the learning since the inception of C(E)TRs and DSRs, including consultation and engagement with people with lived experience. This process included drawing on the findings of the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board’s review of the deaths of Joanna, Jon and Ben at Cawston Park in Norfolk, and the subsequent safe and wellbeing reviews for all people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health hospitals.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
28th Feb 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the dynamic support register and Care (Education) and Treatment Review policy for autistic people without a learning difficulty in (1) preventing hospital admissions, and (2) speeding up hospital discharges.

NHS England published updated policy and guidance on both Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (C(E)TRs) and Dynamic Support Registers (DSRs) on 25 January 2023, for implementation from 1 May 2023, to help ensure people get the support they need to stay well in their communities. This includes guidance on the timescales for C(E)TRs and on ensuring that actions are taken forward.

NHS England produced the updated policy and guidance following a process of reviewing the learning since the inception of C(E)TRs and DSRs, including consultation and engagement with people with lived experience. This process included drawing on the findings of the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board’s review of the deaths of Joanna, Jon and Ben at Cawston Park in Norfolk, and the subsequent safe and wellbeing reviews for all people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health hospitals.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
24th Jan 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government why social service departments are discharging hospital patients to residential care for the first time when they are self-funding, while encouraging those patients (1) to contract with, (2) to be charged by, and (3) to be added to, social services’ admissions to private care, instead of contracting directly with the residential home; what impact this practice has on patients’ contractual rights; and what assessment they have made of the impact of this on the viability of the private care home sector.

It is our priority to ensure that patients are discharged at the right time and to the right place, and to ensure that people receive appropriate care and support after they have been discharged. We believe it is crucial to ensure that the discharge process remains person-centred and driven by the patient’s fully informed decisions of the available options, including their own home or a residential care setting after they are discharged, with the support of their family or unpaid carers.

Whether or not a person qualifies for any financial support towards their care costs depends on their capital assets. Anyone who has assets above the upper capital limit, £23,250, is expected to meet the full cost of their own care. A person with more in capital than the upper capital limit can nonetheless ask their local authority to arrange their care and support for them.

Where the person’s needs are to be met by care in a care home, the local authority may choose to arrange the care, but is not required to do so. In supporting self-funders to arrange care, the local authority may choose to enter into a contract with the preferred provider or may broker the contract on behalf of the person.

Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
21st Oct 2021
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the NHS about changes they are making to (1) outpatient departments, and (2) in-patient care, to avoid hospital acquired COVID-19.

NHS England and NHS Improvement work with National Health Service trusts to ensure effective implementation of United Kingdom infection prevention and control guidance in all areas, for both outpatient and inpatient care.

Mechanisms for infection prevention including physical distancing, optimal hand hygiene, equipment and environment decontamination, and extended use of face masks by healthcare staff, patients and visitors, are continually reviewed. The Department continues to have ongoing discussions with NHS England and NHS Improvement on controlling the spread of COVID-19 infection in all healthcare settings.

21st Oct 2021
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) residential home, and (2) nursing home, capacity in England since March 2020.

In March 2020, there were 234,416 residential care beds which decreased by 0.4% to 233,444 in October 2021. The number of nursing beds in March 2020 was 222,607 which rose by 1.1% to 224,979 in October 2021.

Since March 2020, the number of overall care beds rose by 0.3% to 458,423 in October 2021.

18th Mar 2021
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take support the mental health needs of frontline care workers in the charitable and not-for-profit sectors.

We have worked alongside the National Health Service and other organisations to provide a package of emotional, psychological and practical resources for all care workers, including those in the charitable and not-for-profit sectors. This package includes support helplines, guidance, bereavement resources and a bespoke package of support for registered managers. We have also worked with the sector to ensure that wellbeing resources and best practice advice are streamlined and easier to navigate.

18th Mar 2021
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of National Living Wage costs on care providers in the charitable sector.

The Department does not make separate assessments of the cost of the National Living Wage in respect of for-profit, local authority-run and not-for-profit providers, or at the level of individual providers.

1st Oct 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people diagnosed with COVID-19 on admission to hospital have died while still an in-patient after 28 days.

Public Health England does not collect the data in the format requested.

3rd Sep 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to respond to the Report of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review First Do No Harm, published on 8 July.

The recommendations of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review are being considered carefully.

The Government will provide an update in due course.

14th Mar 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 8 March (HL Deb col 797), for how long they have recorded changes of name by individuals following conviction; and how such data is (1) collected, and (2) recorded.

Protecting the public from dangerous criminals is a top priority for the Government. The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and those who pose a risk, and we are committed to ensuring that the system is as robust as it can be.

Registered Sex Offenders (RSOs) and Registered Terrorist Offenders (RTOs) are required, by law, to notify their details to the police annually and whenever those details change (including name changes) and they face up to five years in prison for failing to do so.

The Government has been reviewing whether more can be done in the legislative and non-legislative space to prevent criminals from being able to evade detection. This includes ensuring that law enforcement and other partners are fully utilising the monitoring tools and information sharing sources available to them, such as those provided by HM Passport Office, in addition to other ways to strengthen the system further.

We take this issue seriously and will take whatever action is required to prevent nefarious criminals from seeking to evade detection.

RSOs and RTOs are required to report name changes within three days of that change taking place. This information is collected and recorded by the police, and is not collected centrally by the Home Office.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
14th Mar 2023
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to change the law applying to those individuals who change their name to avoid being brought to justice.

Protecting the public from dangerous criminals is a top priority for the Government. The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and those who pose a risk, and we are committed to ensuring that the system is as robust as it can be.

Registered Sex Offenders (RSOs) and Registered Terrorist Offenders (RTOs) are required, by law, to notify their details to the police annually and whenever those details change (including name changes) and they face up to five years in prison for failing to do so.

The Government has been reviewing whether more can be done in the legislative and non-legislative space to prevent criminals from being able to evade detection. This includes ensuring that law enforcement and other partners are fully utilising the monitoring tools and information sharing sources available to them, such as those provided by HM Passport Office, in addition to other ways to strengthen the system further.

We take this issue seriously and will take whatever action is required to prevent nefarious criminals from seeking to evade detection.

RSOs and RTOs are required to report name changes within three days of that change taking place. This information is collected and recorded by the police, and is not collected centrally by the Home Office.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)