Lord Bradley Portrait

Lord Bradley

Labour - Life peer

Became Member: 12th June 2006


Lord Bradley is not a member of any APPGs
3 Former APPG memberships
City Regions, City Regions Transport, Speech and Language Difficulties
Draft Mental Health Bill (Joint Committee)
19th Jul 2022 - 30th May 2024
Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill
19th Jul 2022 - 30th May 2024
Liaison Committee (Lords)
1st Jul 2019 - 31st Jan 2023
Adult Social Care Committee
19th Jan 2022 - 21st Nov 2022
Long-Term Sustainability of the NHS Committee
25th May 2016 - 5th Apr 2017
Shadow Spokesperson (Health)
1st Nov 2013 - 18th Sep 2015
Shadow Spokesperson (Work and Pensions)
1st Nov 2013 - 18th Sep 2015
House Committee (Lords)
13th Nov 2007 - 30th Jun 2010
Health and Social Care Committee
20th Oct 2003 - 12th Jul 2005
Minister of State (Home Office) (Prisons)
11th Jun 2001 - 28th May 2002
Finance and Services Committee
1st Jul 1999 - 11th May 2001
Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip)
1st Jan 1998 - 1st Jan 2001
Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip)
28th Jul 1998 - 1st Jan 2001
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Social Security)
2nd May 1997 - 28th Jul 1998
Shadow Spokesperson (Transport)
1st Jan 1996 - 1st Jan 1997
Shadow Spokesperson (Social Security)
1st Jan 1991 - 1st Jan 1996
Agriculture
31st Oct 1991 - 10th Feb 1992


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Lord Bradley has voted in 4 divisions, and never against the majority of their Party.
View All Lord Bradley Division Votes

Debates during the 2024 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
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Department Debates
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Legislation Debates
Lord Bradley has not made any spoken contributions to legislative debate
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Lords initiatives

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


Lord Bradley has not introduced any legislation before Parliament

Lord Bradley has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 9 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
24th Jul 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that the Child Poverty Strategy will address the barriers which prevent children in poverty from accessing speech and language support.

The number of children in poverty has gone up by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. This not only harms children’s lives now, but it also damages their future prospects, and holds back our economic potential as a country.

My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister therefore announced, on 17 July 2024, the appointment of my right hon. Friends, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Secretary of State for Education, as the joint leads of a new ministerial taskforce to begin work on a Child Poverty Strategy. The government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, to tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start at life.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of breaking down barriers to opportunity and improving the life chances for every child. For too many children, living in poverty robs them of the opportunity to learn and to prosper. Too many children, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds, leave primary school with unresolved speech, language and communication needs that have a lasting impact on their life chances.

To help tackle this now, the department will provide targeted support for teachers in early years settings and primary schools to support children with the development of speech, language and communication skills. More broadly, the department will work with teachers and curriculum experts to identify how oracy can be woven into lessons across the curriculum to support all children to succeed. Through this, the department aims to support teachers across the country to realise the benefits of using oracy to teach, by adding it to their repertoire and enabling more children and young people to flourish in life and work.

Early language skills are vital to enable children to thrive in the early years and later in life, including for all aspects of later attainment in school. To support early language skills, the department is investing over £20 million in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention programme (NELI). NELI is an evidence-based programme targeting reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, which rises to seven months for those eligible for free school meals. In July 2024, the department announced that funded support for the 11,100 schools registered for the NELI programme, which is equivalent to two thirds of all English state primaries, would continue for the 2024/25 academic year.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Education)
22nd Jul 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review (1) the level of the Carer's Allowance, and (2) the eligibility threshold for the Carer's Allowance.

This Government recognises the challenges unpaid carers are facing and is determined to provide them with the help and support they need and deserve. It is looking closely at how the benefit system currently does this, notably through Universal Credit and Carer’s Allowance.

With respect to benefit levels, the Secretary of State has a statutory obligation to review the rates of State pensions and benefits each year. In the case of Carer’s Allowance, the relevant statute provides that it must rise at least in line with the increase in prices over the preceding year. The review to set rates for 2025/26 will take place in the autumn.

Other support is available through the benefit system. Full-time unpaid carers on low incomes may also be eligible for means tested support, such as Universal Credit and Pension Credit. These benefits can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the carer element and the additional amount for carers respectively. Currently, the Universal Credit carer element is £198.31 per monthly assessment period. The additional amount for carers in Pension Credit is £45.60 a week.

Baroness Sherlock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
11th Sep 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to amend the National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) Regulations 2015 to enable the electronic transfer of prescriptions between prisons and community pharmacies.

NHS England is considering extending the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) to Detained Estate health services in England, and the Department is engaging with them on this work.

Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
24th Jul 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve access to speech and language therapy services in prisons.

NHS England’s Regional Health and Justice teams directly commission the primary healthcare services within prisons, and oversee the healthcare delivery based on the primary care service specifications for prisons. In line with the specifications, healthcare providers should provide healthcare which includes supporting people’s mental health, as well as communication, speech, and language needs.

Healthcare services in the children and young people secure estate are commissioned locally by Regional Health and Justice commissioners using core outcome-based specifications, which are benchmarked by the Healthcare Standards for Children and Young People in Secure Settings. These include several individual standards that reference speech, language, and communication needs, as part of the overall complex needs that are common in children held in these settings.

NHS England recently held an event for regional Health and Justice neurodiversity leads and commissioners on neurodiversity specialist recruitment, to support with recruitment and training in specialist areas such as speech and language therapists. This included a presentation from the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapist’s prisons lead. In addition, NHS England has allocated additional funding to Health and Justice regions which has been ring-fenced for use on their adult prison custodial neurodiversity pathways.

Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
24th Jul 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accessibility of mental health services to (1) children and young people, and (2) older adults, who have speech, language and communication needs.

As set out in the NHS Priorities and Operational Planning Guidance for 2024/25, NHS England is continuing to expand access to mental health services. This includes increasing the number of children and young people accessing comprehensive mental health support, as well as the number of adults and older adults completing a course of treatment for anxiety and depression via NHS Talking Therapies, some of whom having speech, language, and communication needs. Support may include provision of speech and language therapy as part of a local offer, however decisions about service provision are down to local determination by integrated care boards, to meet locally identified need.

As set out in the Equality Act 2010, all organisations, including those in health and social care, must take steps to remove the barriers individuals face because of disability. The National Health Service must make it as easy for disabled people to use health services as it is for people who are not disabled. NHS organisations and publicly funded social care providers must also comply with the Accessible Information Standard, to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss.

Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
22nd Jul 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the funding of hospices in England.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care, including at end of life. We understand that, financially, times are difficult for many voluntary and charitable organisations, including hospices, due to the increased cost of living. We want a society where these costs are manageable for both voluntary organisations, like hospices, and the people whom they serve.

The Government is going to shift the focus of healthcare out of the hospital and into the community, and we recognise that hospices will play a vital role. We will consider next steps on palliative and end of life care more widely in the coming months.

Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
17th Jul 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase the capacity and geographical distribution of inpatient secure mental health beds.

NHS England has advised that work is currently underway with the 15 Adult Secure Provider Collaboratives across England to speed up the safe and timely transfer of appropriately assessed people from prison. This includes identifying existing capacity, including workforce estates and location, that can be reconfigured at pace; identifying where additional capacity, including workforce and estates, may be required; and, scoping at pace, the creation of alternative clinically safe service models.

Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
9th Sep 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of women remanded in custody in each of the last three years were subsequently (1) sentenced, and (2) not sentenced.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the remand status of defendants and subsequent outcomes in the Remands data tool.

The attached tables provide the proportion of outcomes for female defendants after being remanded in custody, split by magistrates’ court and Crown Court.

Defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and subsequently committed to the Crown Court will have separate remand decisions made in both courts and will be included in both totals.

Lord Timpson
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)