Baroness Penn Portrait

Baroness Penn

Conservative - Life peer

Became Member: 10th October 2019


1 APPG Officer Position (as of 18 Jun 2025)
Flexible and Family Friendly Working
1 APPG Membership
Women in Parliament
Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
1st Sep 2024 - 10th Nov 2024
Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
1st Mar 2024 - 5th Jul 2024
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
14th Nov 2023 - 29th Feb 2024
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
30th Oct 2022 - 13th Nov 2023
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
19th Mar 2020 - 20th Sep 2022
Science and Technology Committee (Lords)
29th Oct 2019 - 21st Apr 2020
Science and Technology Committee
29th Oct 2019 - 21st Apr 2020


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Baroness Penn has voted in 74 divisions, and never against the majority of their Party.
View All Baroness Penn 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 Livermore (Labour)
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
(17 debate interactions)
Lord Leong (Labour)
Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
(12 debate interactions)
Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour)
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
(11 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
HM Treasury
(14 debate contributions)
Home Office
(11 debate contributions)
Department for Business and Trade
(11 debate contributions)
Department for Education
(9 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
View all Baroness Penn's debates

Lords initiatives

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


1 Bill introduced by Baroness Penn

Introduced: 11th May 2022

A Bill to make provision about the UK Infrastructure Bank

This Bill received Royal Assent on 23rd March 2023 and was enacted into law.

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


Latest 29 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
22nd May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 21 May (HL7259), when they last made an estimate of the cost of making Statutory Paternity Pay applicable from the first day of employment, and what that estimate was.

This Government has not made an estimate of the cost of making Statutory Paternity Leave and Pay available to the self-employed or of making Statutory Paternity Pay available from the first day of employment. This Government has committed to a review of the parental leave system to ensure that it best supports all working families. We will publish cost estimates of any policy options being taken forward following the Review.

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
22nd May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of making statutory paternity leave and pay available to the self-employed.

This Government has not made an estimate of the cost of making Statutory Paternity Leave and Pay available to the self-employed or of making Statutory Paternity Pay available from the first day of employment. This Government has committed to a review of the parental leave system to ensure that it best supports all working families. We will publish cost estimates of any policy options being taken forward following the Review.

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
7th May 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of making statutory paternity pay applicable from the first day of employment.

The Government has not made a recent estimate of the cost of making Statutory Paternity Pay available from the first day of employment.

However, we have committed to a review of the parental leave system as a whole to ensure that it best supports all working families. Planning work is already underway.

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
12th Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what responses they received to questions on transparency and large employers publishing their family-related leave and pay policies following their consultation on the ‘Good Work Plan: Proposals to support families’; and how have they responded to the outcomes of the consultation regarding these questions.

The consultation on publication of parental leave and pay policies was undertaken by the previous government.

This government is committed to supporting working families. The Employment Rights Bill will make the right to request flexible working the default, make Paternity and Parental Leave Day one rights, and will require large employers to produce equality action plans, amongst other measures.

As a result, we do not believe that requiring businesses to publish their family-related leave and pay policies is necessary at this time.

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
19th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the National Insurance contributions grant for schools will be paid in each year of the Spending Review 2025 (CP1336).

The department is providing mainstream schools and high needs settings with over £930 million to support them with the increases to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) from April 2025. Payments will be made to local authorities in September 2025 and to academies in October 2025.

The NICs funding will be rolled into the schools national funding formula (NFF) from the 2026/27 financial year to ensure this funding remains a protected part of school budgets.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
19th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the National Insurance contributions grant for schools is included in spending and allocations for schools in the future years of the Spending Review 2025 (CP1336).

The department is providing mainstream schools and high needs settings with over £930 million to support them with the increases to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) from April 2025. Payments will be made to local authorities in September 2025 and to academies in October 2025.

The NICs funding will be rolled into the schools national funding formula (NFF) from the 2026/27 financial year to ensure this funding remains a protected part of school budgets.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
19th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the value of the National Insurance contributions grant for schools, and when will that grant be paid.

The department is providing mainstream schools and high needs settings with over £930 million to support them with the increases to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) from April 2025. Payments will be made to local authorities in September 2025 and to academies in October 2025.

The NICs funding will be rolled into the schools national funding formula (NFF) from the 2026/27 financial year to ensure this funding remains a protected part of school budgets.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
14th Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans Ofsted has to incorporate evidence on mobile phones into its Education Inspection Framework and inspector training.

This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the noble Lady directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
14th Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 12 December 2024 (HL3041), what plans they have to introduce guidance for parents of babies and children under five on screen time and phone use through midwifery, health visiting or GP services.

Across departments, this government is considering the recommendations of the previous Education Committee’s report ‘Screen Time: Impacts on education and wellbeing’, including the report’s recommendations on guidance for parents.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
14th Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish the next iteration of the National Behaviour Survey.

The National Behaviour Survey annual report for the 2023/24 academic year is expected to be published in spring 2025.

Baroness Smith of Malvern
Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
2nd Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 14 April (HL6369), whether the static microsimulation model used in their impact assessment provided an estimate for how many of the additional 250,000 people moved into relative poverty by their welfare changes will already be in work, regardless of the funding to support those not in work into employment.

No assessment has been made on this basis.

The government's impact assessment regarding Health and Disability Reform is available at Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts.

The Pathways to Work Green Paper set out a broad package of plans and proposals to reform health and disability benefits and employment support. Our plans are designed to protect the most vulnerable and give disabled people equal chances and choices to work.

We will continue to carefully consider the impacts of reforms as we develop our detailed proposals for change.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
2nd Apr 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 1 April, what assessment they have made of the number of people who moved into work as a result of previous employment programmes, and what the cost of those programmes was.

There have been many impact assessments that estimate the extra people in work as a result of previous employment programmes, and also the benefits saved to the Exchequer and Society set against the costs of the programmes. Some recent evaluations cover the: Work Programme, European Support Fund, Work Choice, Job Entry Targeted Support, Job Finding Support and Kickstart programmes. I am depositing these impact documents in the Libraries of the House. See links to these reports below.

The Work Programme: impact assessment - GOV.UK

Impact evaluation of the European Social Fund 2014-2020 programme in England - GOV.UK

Work Choice impact evaluation - GOV.UK

JETS (Job Entry Targeted Support) Impact Evaluation - GOV.UK

Job Finding Support programme: A Quantitative Impact Assessment - GOV.UK

Kickstart Scheme: A Quantitative Impact Assessment - GOV.UK

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
31st Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how many of the additional 250,000 people moved into relative poverty by welfare changes will be in work.

The Government’s impact assessment regarding Health and Disability reform is available at: Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts

This assessment does not include the impact of the £1 billion a year, by 2029/30, funding for measures to support those with disabilities and long-term health conditions into employment, which we expect to mitigate the poverty impact among people it supports into work. It is not possible, therefore, to assess how many more working people will be in relative poverty in 2029/30 as a result of these changes.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
27th Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people they expect to move into employment as a result of the £1 billion employment package announced on 18 March.

The DWP published an impact assessment which explained how employment interventions can have a significant and enduring impacts on peoples’ employment prospects and showed the substantial savings associated with supporting disabled people into work. For every 10,000 additional people in full time work, there would be fiscal savings of around £180m per year, with societal savings around £280m per year, (£80m and £150m respectively if in part-time work.

The Department has extensive evidence on what works, which includes the evaluation of Work Choice, a specialist employment programme for disabled people and those with health conditions, that showed people receiving tailored support were 40% more likely to be in work eight years later. We will be developing more detailed assessments of the potential impacts of the employment measures proposed in the Green Paper as these are developed in detail. The Office for Budget Responsibility has also stated that it intends to assess the labour supply impacts of the Green Paper measures in their Autumn forecast.

Baroness Sherlock
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
14th Jan 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 18 December 2024 (HL3350), what is the status of each of the recommendations made by the Chief Medical Officers in their commentary on Screen-based activities and children and young people’s mental health and psychosocial wellbeing: a systematic map of reviews, published on 7 February 2019.

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is an independent advisor to the Government, and any CMO reports are produced independently. The recommendations are advisory, to inform policy development.

In June 2019, at the request of the then United Kingdom’s CMOs, the then Chief Scientific Advisor convened a workshop to bring together a range of academic experts and funding bodies to discuss future research possibilities around screen-based activities and children and young people’s mental health. The workshop aimed to identify avenues for undertaking future research and funding in this area, and recommended that a methodology panel was convened to improve research methods, and that children and young people’s user needs were scoped out, to determine research priorities.

These recommendations align with the UK Mental Health Research Goals for 2020 - 2030, which includes developing research to halve the number of children and young people experiencing persistent mental health problems. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) continues to commission research in this area to support and improve evidence-based practice. As part of this, the NIHR is currently funding research to explore the impact that school policies which restrict daytime use of smartphones and social media have on adolescent mental wellbeing.

The Department for Education is currently reviewing the statutory guidance on teaching relationships, health, and sex education, and as part of this, will consider whether additional or revised content should be included in the guidance, including content regarding online safety and harm.

Since 2022, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has provided £3 million in funding for media literacy projects that empower users to navigate the online world safely. In 2024, this included £500,000 to scale up two programmes to provide media literacy support to teachers, children aged 11 to 16 years old, and other professionals working with families, parents, and carers.

The Online Safety Act updated Ofcom’s statutory duty to promote media literacy and to raise the public’s awareness of the nature and impact of harmful content and online behaviour. Ofcom has published a three-year media literacy strategy which includes investigating specific impacts of platform design on user safety, such as the impact of persuasive design on children. The Government looks forward to working with them as they implement these strategies.

Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
19th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of eligible businesses have reclaimed statutory paternity pay in each of the past five years.

A breakdown of total reclaims for the financial years 2019–20 to 2023–24 is available below. However, data for 2024–25 has not yet been analysed as the tax year has only recently ended.

Further breakdowns of information by size of business are not currently available from published statistics, and collating and verifying the relevant data solely for the purpose of answering this question would incur disproportionate cost.

Date

Sum Recoveries

Count Recoveries

19/20

£50,300,000

55,100

20/21

£43,800,000

44,200

21/22

£52,400,000

53,600

22/23

£52,600,000

54,600

23/24

£61,500,000

56,200

Notes:

1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.

2) Sum recoveries rounded to nearest £100,000.

3) Count of recoveries rounded to nearest 100.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
19th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government how much statutory paternity pay was reclaimed by businesses in each of the past five years, broken down by size of business.

A breakdown of total reclaims for the financial years 2019–20 to 2023–24 is available below. However, data for 2024–25 has not yet been analysed as the tax year has only recently ended.

Further breakdowns of information by size of business are not currently available from published statistics, and collating and verifying the relevant data solely for the purpose of answering this question would incur disproportionate cost.

Date

Sum Recoveries

Count Recoveries

19/20

£50,300,000

55,100

20/21

£43,800,000

44,200

21/22

£52,400,000

53,600

22/23

£52,600,000

54,600

23/24

£61,500,000

56,200

Notes:

1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.

2) Sum recoveries rounded to nearest £100,000.

3) Count of recoveries rounded to nearest 100.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
19th Jun 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government how many reclaims for statutory paternity pay there have been in each of the past five years, broken down by size of business.

A breakdown of total reclaims for the financial years 2019–20 to 2023–24 is available below. However, data for 2024–25 has not yet been analysed as the tax year has only recently ended.

Further breakdowns of information by size of business are not currently available from published statistics, and collating and verifying the relevant data solely for the purpose of answering this question would incur disproportionate cost.

Date

Sum Recoveries

Count Recoveries

19/20

£50,300,000

55,100

20/21

£43,800,000

44,200

21/22

£52,400,000

53,600

22/23

£52,600,000

54,600

23/24

£61,500,000

56,200

Notes:

1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.

2) Sum recoveries rounded to nearest £100,000.

3) Count of recoveries rounded to nearest 100.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
25th Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 25 March (HL5735), in what way they plan to broaden the National Wealth Fund's legislative remit beyond infrastructure.

The Government will introduce legislation when Parliamentary time allows to broaden the National Wealth Fund’s (NWF) legislative mandate beyond infrastructure to enable it to better support the Government’s growth and clean energy missions.

At that point, and subject to Parliamentary consent, the NWF will focus on enabling investment in capital intensive projects, businesses, or assets. For example, the NWF will have the scope to invest in a broader range of supply chains and critical sectors, such as Artificial Intelligence and quantum, where access to finance gaps exist.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
12th Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce legislation to change the remit of the National Wealth Fund.

The Government will introduce legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows to broaden the National Wealth Fund’s legislative remit beyond infrastructure.

The Government published the National Wealth Fund’s new Statement of Strategic Priorities on 19 March. It directs the National Wealth Fund to prioritise investment into the clean energy, advanced manufacturing, digital and technologies, and transport sectors. It can already invest in infrastructure projects in these areas.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
12th Mar 2025
To ask His Majesty's Government whether spending by the National Wealth Fund will be subject to their fiscal rules; and, if so, which of the fiscal rules will apply.

The UK’s fiscal framework (as set out at the October 2024 Budget) applies to the whole public sector, including the National Wealth Fund (NWF). The NWF is operationally independent, but wholly owned by the Treasury, and therefore part of the public sector and subject to the fiscal framework.

Specifically, the fiscal framework contains two fiscal rules:

i) the stability rule – to move the current budget into balance so that day to-day costs are met by revenues, meaning that the government will only borrow for investment. The NWF’s current expenditure, for example the salaries of NWF staff, and current income, for example the income it receives for loans, are included in this metric.

ii) the investment rule – to reduce debt, defined as public sector net financial liabilities or net financial debt, as a share of the economy. Net financial debt is a broad measure that includes the value of financial assets owned by the government and nets these assets off the liabilities of government captured in net financial debt. NWF’s financial assets, for example it’s loans and equity investments, are included as financial assets under this metric.

Lord Livermore
Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
9th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the delivery of housing in London in each of the past five years for which data are available.

The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that local planning authorities should monitor progress in building out sites which have permission. The Government publishes the Housing Delivery Test results for each local authority in England annually, which is a percentage measurement calculated over a rolling three-year period, taking into account the homes delivered in an area against the homes required. The latest Housing Delivery Test results, published in December 2023, measures delivery over the 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22 financial years. Paragraph 79 of the National Planning Policy Framework sets out the policy consequences for local planning authorities whose housing delivery has fallen below their housing requirement.

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
9th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what penalties they intend to impose on the Mayor of London should he fail to meet London’s housing delivery target.

The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that local planning authorities should monitor progress in building out sites which have permission. The Government publishes the Housing Delivery Test results for each local authority in England annually, which is a percentage measurement calculated over a rolling three-year period, taking into account the homes delivered in an area against the homes required. The latest Housing Delivery Test results, published in December 2023, measures delivery over the 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22 financial years. Paragraph 79 of the National Planning Policy Framework sets out the policy consequences for local planning authorities whose housing delivery has fallen below their housing requirement.

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
9th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to legislate to remove or amend any nutrient neutrality rules restricting housebuilding.

Nutrient neutrality advice affects 8% of national housing delivery or 14% of England’s land area, equating to 16,500 dwellings per year if housing delivery were to remain at recent levels. The Government is committed to finding solutions to support the building of homes affected by nutrient neutrality without weakening environmental protections. We are working with nature organisations, other stakeholders, and the sector to determine the best way forward. If legislation is required for the purposes of enabling development to fund nature recovery where currently both are stalled, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will provide the necessary legislative underpinning to unlock a win-win outcome for the economy and for nature. We will only act in legislation where we can confirm to Parliament that the steps we are taking will deliver positive environmental outcomes. We will conduct a full impact assessment ahead of any changes to legislation.

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
9th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of removing or amending nutrient neutrality rules on housebuilding.

Nutrient neutrality advice affects 8% of national housing delivery or 14% of England’s land area, equating to 16,500 dwellings per year if housing delivery were to remain at recent levels. The Government is committed to finding solutions to support the building of homes affected by nutrient neutrality without weakening environmental protections. We are working with nature organisations, other stakeholders, and the sector to determine the best way forward. If legislation is required for the purposes of enabling development to fund nature recovery where currently both are stalled, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will provide the necessary legislative underpinning to unlock a win-win outcome for the economy and for nature. We will only act in legislation where we can confirm to Parliament that the steps we are taking will deliver positive environmental outcomes. We will conduct a full impact assessment ahead of any changes to legislation.

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
9th Oct 2024
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to promote densification of housing in Greater London.

The Government has consulted on an updated growth-focused National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which makes clear our commitment to maximise delivery in urban areas, including building upwards where appropriate. We will publish the outcome of the consultation and a revised NPPF in due course.

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)