Baroness Buscombe
Baroness Buscombe Portrait

Baroness Buscombe

Conservative - Life peer

Became Member: 23rd July 1998


Baroness Buscombe is not a member of any APPGs
1 Former APPG membership
Gardening and Horticulture
Draft Mental Health Bill (Joint Committee)
19th Jul 2022 - 30th May 2024
Draft Mental Health Bill (Joint Committee)
21st Jul 2022 - 30th May 2024
Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill
21st Jul 2022 - 30th May 2024
Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill
19th Jul 2022 - 30th May 2024
Horticultural Sector Committee
31st Jan 2023 - 26th Oct 2023
Communications and Digital Committee
4th Mar 2020 - 20th Oct 2022
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
15th Jun 2017 - 30th Jul 2019
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
21st Dec 2016 - 15th Jun 2017
National Security Strategy (Joint Committee)
3rd Dec 2015 - 27th Apr 2017
Human Rights (Joint Committee)
16th Jul 2015 - 12th May 2016
Human Rights (Joint Committee)
15th Jan 2014 - 30th Mar 2015
Inquiries Act 2005 Committee
16th May 2013 - 26th Feb 2014
Shadow Minister (Education)
10th May 2005 - 11th Jan 2007
Shadow Minister (Education)
20th May 2005 - 11th Jan 2007
Shadow Minister (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
26th Nov 2002 - 22nd Jun 2005
Shadow Minister (Home Affairs)
6th Jul 2004 - 20th May 2005
Shadow Minister (Home, Constitutional and Legal Affairs)
3rd Feb 2003 - 18th Nov 2004
Shadow Minister (Home, Constitutional and Legal Affairs)
10th May 2004 - 6th Jul 2004
Shadow Minister (Home, Constitutional and Legal Affairs)
29th Nov 1999 - 20th Nov 2002
Shadow Minister (Cabinet Office)
21st Dec 1999 - 2nd Feb 2001
Shadow Spokesperson (Trade and Industry)
29th Jun 1999 - 27th Oct 2000
Shadow Spokesperson (Social Security)
30th Jun 1999 - 22nd Jun 2000


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Baroness Buscombe has voted in 4 divisions, and never against the majority of their Party.
View All Baroness Buscombe 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
Lord Coaker (Labour)
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
(2 debate interactions)
Baroness Berridge (Conservative)
(1 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Department of Health and Social Care
(3 debate contributions)
Ministry of Defence
(2 debate contributions)
Leader of the House
(1 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
Legislation Debates
Mental Health Bill [HL] 2024-26
(2,096 words contributed)
View All Legislation Debates
View all Baroness Buscombe's debates

Lords initiatives

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


Baroness Buscombe has not introduced any legislation before Parliament

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


Latest 5 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
6th Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government whether an annual Christmas bonus for benefit claimants will be paid this year; if so, how many claimants will receive that bonus; and what the total cost will be, including administrative costs, to public funds.

In 2024/25, it is estimated that there will be around 17.9 million recipients of the Christmas Bonus at a cost of £179 million. This information is available in Table 1c of the Outturn and Forecast tables for the Autumn Budget 2024, which can be found here: outturn-and-forecast-tables-autumn-budget-2024.xlsx

In most cases, the bonus is paid automatically with whichever qualifying benefit an individual receives, which ensures administration costs are kept to a minimum.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
6th Dec 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Get Britain Working White Paper (CP 1191), what assessment they made of the value of partnering with cultural and arts organisations, and in particular of the levels of pay and employment rights offered by such organisations.

The Government will work in partnership with organisations at the national and local level to join up, enhance and champion their efforts as part of our new Youth Guarantee. Our first partnerships will be developed with Channel 4, the Royal Shakespeare Company and leading sports organisations including the Premier League.​

These sports, culture and arts organisations play a vital role in our economy, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and contributing to growth. This work has become even more important since the Covid-19 pandemic, which harmed the chances and choices of so many young people.

We have partnered with these organisations on the basis that they already have a track record of building trusted relationships with young people from all walks of life, including those in schools and those from areas of socio-economic disadvantage.  As well as being heavily involved with young people in schools they all have a particular interest in young people who are not earning or learning.

We plan to expand into other sectors and organisations who also play a vital role in youth education, employment and training.

DWP does not hold data on pay by individual organisations.

The Good Work Review, published in February 2023 by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, was co-funded by DCMS and is the first sectoral deep dive of its kind into job quality and working practice in the creative industries.

DCMS is working closely with the sector as it responds to these recommendations. The review set out a number of priorities, including driving improvements in workplace and management practices in the Creative Industries.

Statistics on median annual gross pay in the Creative Industries and subsectors (vs. UK as a whole) in Economic Estimates: Earnings 2023 and Employment October 2022 to September 2023 for the DCMS Sectors and Digital Sector - GOV.UK

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
11th Sep 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that information published about the total value of benefits paid to claimants, including available discount schemes and grants, can be readily compared with employee salaries, which are usually quoted before tax.

The Government has no such plans. Independent, free and anonymous benefit calculators are available that can help individuals to see how their benefits are affected if they start work or increase their hours. Benefit calculators can be found on gov.uk.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9th Sep 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of residents of Ceredigion in Wales are currently in receipt of disability benefits.

The table below shows the number of claimants in February 2024 who are on the different disability benefits, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance, including the Child element (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA).

PIP

DLA

AA

Total

4,449

1,293

2,785

8,527

This information can be found on the published datasets on Stat-Xplore - Log in (dwp.gov.uk)

The latest available population estimates published by the Office of National Statistics on Population estimates - local authority based by single year of age - Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics (nomisweb.co.uk) show that the estimated population of Ceredigion in April 2023 is 73,050.

This means that 12% of the residents of Ceredigion in Wales were claiming disability benefits in February 2024.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9th Sep 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial implications of the proposal to impose VAT on independent school fees on the parents of children supported by the Continuity of Education Allowance.

The Government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, ensuring every child has access to high-quality education, which is why we have made the tough decision to end tax breaks for private schools. This will raise revenue for essential public services, including investing in the education system.

Recognising the enormous sacrifices our military families make, the Ministry of Defence provide the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) to eligible Service Personnel. The government will monitor closely the impact of these policy changes on affected military families and the upcoming Spending Review is the right time to consider any changes to this scheme.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)