Baroness Gardner of Parkes Portrait

Baroness Gardner of Parkes

Conservative - Life peer

Became Member: 19th June 1981


Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee
9th Jun 2010 - 27th Nov 2013
Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee
11th Dec 2008 - 12th Nov 2009
Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee
8th Jun 2006 - 30th Oct 2007
Information Committee (Lords)
25th Nov 2002 - 7th May 2005


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Baroness Gardner of Parkes has voted in 150 divisions, and 9 times against the majority of their Party.

7 Dec 2020 - Trade Bill - View Vote Context
Baroness Gardner of Parkes voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 6 Conservative Aye votes vs 188 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 297 Noes - 221
7 Dec 2020 - Trade Bill - View Vote Context
Baroness Gardner of Parkes voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 16 Conservative Aye votes vs 143 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 287 Noes - 161
25 Nov 2020 - United Kingdom Internal Market Bill - View Vote Context
Baroness Gardner of Parkes voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 3 Conservative Aye votes vs 204 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 323 Noes - 241
20 Oct 2020 - United Kingdom Internal Market Bill - View Vote Context
Baroness Gardner of Parkes voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 39 Conservative Aye votes vs 158 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 395 Noes - 169
28 Sep 2020 - Coronavirus Act 2020: Temporary Provisions - View Vote Context
Baroness Gardner of Parkes voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 24 Conservative Aye votes vs 166 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 99 Noes - 198
15 Jun 2020 - Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 - View Vote Context
Baroness Gardner of Parkes 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
28 Apr 2021 - Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 - View Vote Context
Baroness Gardner of Parkes voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 36 Conservative Aye votes vs 156 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 93 Noes - 418
28 Apr 2021 - Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 - View Vote Context
Baroness Gardner of Parkes voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 26 Conservative Aye votes vs 151 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 63 Noes - 401
28 Apr 2021 - Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 - View Vote Context
Baroness Gardner of Parkes voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 34 Conservative Aye votes vs 144 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 70 Noes - 409
View All Baroness Gardner of Parkes 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
Baroness Williams of Trafford (Conservative)
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
(19 debate interactions)
Lord Greenhalgh (Conservative)
(16 debate interactions)
Lord Bethell (Conservative)
(15 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Department of Health and Social Care
(17 debate contributions)
Home Office
(12 debate contributions)
Department for International Trade
(9 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
View all Baroness Gardner of Parkes's debates

Lords initiatives

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


Baroness Gardner of Parkes has not introduced any legislation before Parliament

Baroness Gardner of Parkes has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 13 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
16th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 11 April 2019 (HL15230), how many agencies employing careworkers are paying the costs of such workers for their travel between clients; and what steps they take to ensure that care agencies pay staff appropriate renumeration for any time spent travelling between appointments.

The law is clear that for care workers, and other workers, time spent travelling between assignments counts as time worked for National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage (NMW) purposes. Furthermore, the Government issued statutory guidance supporting the implementation of the Care Act which specifies; “Remuneration must be at least sufficient to comply with the NMW legislation for hourly pay or equivalent salary. This will include appropriate remuneration for any time spent travelling between appointments.”

The Government has more than doubled the NMW compliance and enforcement budget to £27.4 million for 2019/20, up from £13.2 million in 2015/16. HMRC utilise those resources to follow up on every worker complaint received and to undertake proactive investigations. Last year (2018/19), HMRC identified over £6 million in minimum wage arrears within the Human Health and Social Work sector, owed to over 27,000 workers. This includes, but is not limited to, arrears relating to travel time.

Workers can call the ACAS helpline for free, confidential advice about their rights and entitlements. If they want to make a complaint through HMRC, they can do so in complete confidence, either via ACAS or using the online complaints form on GOV.UK. HMRC will protect their anonymity throughout the investigation.

6th Jul 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to give boarding schools greater autonomy to decide how to operate from September 2020.

The Department has published guidance to support all schools as they prepare for the return of all pupils from the beginning of the autumn term: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

The guidance provides schools with advice about how to minimise the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in schools. It also sets out how the department expects schools to operate, and where there is flexibility. For boarding schools the guidance encourages schools to keep children in their class groups, but also allows for the mixing of pupils in different groups residentially and during the school day.

Boarding schools will still need to meet the national minimum standards to safeguard and protect the children in their care and those that are independent schools will need to comply with the independent school standards.

12th Jan 2021
To ask Her Majesty's Government what level of protection one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine provides against COVID-19; and what plans they have to publish the evidence base that informs their data on the effectiveness of one such dose.

Since the beginning of the vaccination programme, Public Health England (PHE) has been monitoring the effectiveness of the vaccines in the real world. PHE’s first analysis of the early effects of COVID-19 vaccination in England, using routine testing and vaccination data, was published on 1 March. The data shows effectiveness of a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against symptomatic COVID-19 reaches approximately 60% in those aged 70 and over in the general population, reaching 85% to 90% after two doses in those aged 80 years and over. The data also shows a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine is 80% and 95% effective at reducing hospitalisation and mortality from COVID-19, respectively, in those aged 70 and over. PHE’s latest vaccine effectiveness report can be found attached entitled, ‘Public Health England vaccine effectiveness report March 2021’

12th Jan 2021
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that the amount of time between the administration of the first and the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine does not exceed six weeks.

Since December 2020, the Government’s policy has been to offer people their second vaccine dose up to 12 weeks after their first dose. The decision to update the dosing interval will give as many people at the highest risk their first dose as soon as possible and it is in line with the conditions of authorisation from Medicines and Healthcare and Regulatory Authority for the vaccine.

This approach is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and four UK Chief Medical Officers and is designed to save lives. Analysis carried out by Public Health England suggests that the COVID-19 vaccination programme prevented 6,100 deaths in England up to the end of February 2021.

The Government is in constant contact with the vaccine manufacturers and remains confident that the supply of vaccine to the UK will not be disrupted, and will enable everyone to receive their second dose within 12 weeks of their first.

16th Nov 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to pre-book COVID-19 tests for all university students to take before they return to university after the Christmas break.

The Government has established a large number of asymptomatic test sites across higher education institutions. We are working to make the return to higher education as safe as possible. All students will have the opportunity to be tested on their return to university at the start of the spring term. The Government has provided guidance for universities to implement a staggered return of students over five weeks to minimise the transmission risk from the mass movement of students. Further guidance will be provided in due course, considering future developments and the relevant scientific advice.

29th Jul 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the availability of National Health Service dental treatment for patients of all ages.

National Health Service dental practices were able to restart face-to-face care from 8 June, with the aim of increasing levels of service for all patients, as fast as is safely possible, taking into account Public Health England guidance and continued infection risks.

Urgent dental care centres remain open to support the provision of urgent and emergency face-to-face care for dental patients and patients will be referred to urgent dental care centres, where needed locally.

20th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford on 6 August 2019 (HL17643), how much new funding they provided in 2019 for new measures to prevent the transmission of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae.

Public Health England has not received any new funding for the prevention of transmission of the carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae.

22nd Oct 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports that AirBnB will share data with HMRC about the earnings of hosts in the UK for the years 2017/18 and 2018/19, what steps they are taking to ensure all short term letting agencies do the same; and what plans they have to share this data with local councils to ensure properties in their areas are let for only 90 days of short term lettings a year.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) receive data routinely from a variety of sources. This data supports compliance activity to reduce the size of the gap between the tax which is owed and that which is paid.

HMRC understand that the short-term property letting market is a rapidly evolving sector and are working in partnership with companies such as Airbnb to address the tax consequences of these changes, supporting taxpayers in ensuring they are aware of their tax obligations and pay the right tax at the right time.

HMRC are bound by a strict duty of confidentiality as laid down in the Commissioners for Revenue & Customs Act (CRCA) 2005 with respect to all of the information they hold in connection with their functions. HMRC officials may share information only in the limited circumstances set out in legislation, which include disclosures for the purposes of HMRC’s functions, through specific information sharing legislative gateways.

29th Jul 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they plan to take to bring presently unused office spaces into use to provide housing for those who are unable to find safe places to live during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Almost 15,000 vulnerable people have been housed in emergency accommodation, including hotels, since the start of the COVID-19 emergency. This includes people coming in directly from the streets, people previously housed in shared night shelters and people who have become vulnerable to rough sleeping during the pandemic.

On 24 June we announced that we are?providing local authorities with?a further?£105 million?to enable them?to?best?support those placed into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic.?This commitment?will help?to ensure that as few of these people as possible return to the streets.

We also recently announced that £160 million of Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme funding will help ensure that 6,000 new housing units are put into the system, with 3,300 of these becoming available within 2020/21. We expect local authorities and registered providers to bring forward units of accommodation from a variety of sources and this could potentially include repurposing other buildings where appropriate.

29th Jul 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for providing access to unused holiday lets accommodation in London to homeless people.

Almost 15,000 vulnerable people have been housed in emergency accommodation, including hotels, since the start of the COVID-19 emergency. This includes people coming in directly from the streets, people previously housed in shared night shelters and people who have become vulnerable to rough sleeping during the pandemic.

On 24 June we announced that we are?providing local authorities with?a further?£105 million?to enable them?to?best?support those placed into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic.?This commitment?will help?to ensure that as few of these people as possible return to the streets.

We also recently announced that £160 million of Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme funding will help ensure that 6,000 new housing units are put into the system, with 3,300 of these becoming available within 2020/21. We expect local authorities and registered providers to bring forward units of accommodation from a variety of sources and this could potentially include repurposing other buildings where appropriate.

21st Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with local authorities in Greater London about the licensing of properties to be used as short-term holiday lets; and what were the outcomes of any such discussions.

My Department has not discussed this specific issue with local authorities in Greater London since the 2019 General Election. However, my Department has regular contact with local authorities and remains open to discussing any concerns they hold.

While the Government does not require short-term accommodation providers to register, the Short Term Accommodation Association has developed an accreditation scheme, in partnership with Quality in Tourism, called ‘Safe, Clean and Legal’.

Viscount Younger of Leckie
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
21st Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of short-term holiday lets on the availability of housing for those who wish to live in London.

The Government has not made such an assessment. However, restrictions are in place to limit the use of residential property for short-term let in London. The Deregulation Act 2015 imposes a 90-day limit on any such letting within a single calendar year.

The sharing economy plays an important role in accommodating tourists, who make a huge financial contribution to the country. But there are also legitimate concerns about the impact on local communities. The Government remains open to hearing the views of all stakeholders on the matter. It is important to find ways to address these concerns without placing too great a burden on the growing sharing economy.

Viscount Younger of Leckie
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
9th Jan 2020
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the impact of the Deregulation Act 2015 on short-term lettings, and (2) the proposal by the Mayor of London in April 2019 for the introduction of a registration system for those renting property for less than 90 days in a calendar year in London; and what plans they have, if any, to introduce such a system.

The Deregulation Act 2015 limits short-term lettings in London to 90 days per property per calendar year. We have not made any specific assessment of its impact on short-term lettings. As to the proposal by the Mayor of London, the Government has no current plans to introduce such a register. However, we are aware of the work by the Short-Term Accommodation Association as well as platforms such as Airbnb, HomeAway and TripAdvisor to put in place their own procedures to avoid breach of the 90-day limit which we note with interest.

Viscount Younger of Leckie
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)