Caroline Voaden Portrait

Caroline Voaden

Liberal Democrat - South Devon

7,127 (14.5%) majority - 2024 General Election

First elected: 4th July 2024


Caroline Voaden is not a member of any APPGs
Caroline Voaden has no previous appointments


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Caroline Voaden has voted in 6 divisions, and never against the majority of their Party.
View All Caroline Voaden 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
Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op))
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
(3 debate interactions)
Rachel Reeves (Labour)
Chancellor of the Exchequer
(3 debate interactions)
Yvette Cooper (Labour)
Home Secretary
(2 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
HM Treasury
(2 debate contributions)
Department for Transport
(2 debate contributions)
Home Office
(1 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
Legislation Debates
Caroline Voaden has not made any spoken contributions to legislative debate
View all Caroline Voaden's debates

Latest EDMs signed by Caroline Voaden

11th September 2024
Caroline Voaden signed this EDM as a sponsor on Thursday 12th September 2024

Saudi Arabia’s bid to join the UN Human Rights Council

Tabled by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
That this House expresses profound concern over Saudi Arabia's bid to secure a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council; notes with alarm the extensive record of human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, including but not limited to restrictions on freedom of expression, the use of capital punishment, and …
11 signatures
(Most recent: 12 Sep 2024)
Signatures by party:
Liberal Democrat: 11
9th September 2024
Caroline Voaden signed this EDM as a sponsor on Tuesday 10th September 2024

Penguins at Sea Life London Aquarium

Tabled by: Danny Chambers (Liberal Democrat - Winchester)
That this House expresses grave concern regarding the welfare of 15 Gentoo penguins currently being kept in a windowless basement at the London Sea Life Aquarium; notes that these penguins, native to the Antarctic Circle, are confined to a pitifully small enclosure with only six to seven feet of water …
10 signatures
(Most recent: 12 Sep 2024)
Signatures by party:
Liberal Democrat: 8
Labour: 1
Democratic Unionist Party: 1
View All Caroline Voaden's signed Early Day Motions

Commons initiatives

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

MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.


Caroline Voaden has not been granted any Urgent Questions

Caroline Voaden has not been granted any Adjournment Debates

Caroline Voaden has not introduced any legislation before Parliament

Caroline Voaden has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 15 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
30th Aug 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential financial impact on state schools of the introduction of VAT on private school fees.

The impact on the state sector as a result of the introduction of VAT on private school fees is being carefully considered. HM Treasury will deliver the tax changes. Further details of the government’s assessment of the expected impact will be published at the Budget. A Tax Information and Impact Note will be published alongside the Finance Bill once the independent Office for Budget Responsibility has scrutinised and certified the impacts of the final policy.

Stephen Morgan
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
29th Jul 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 83 of the HM Treasury's policy paper entitled, Fixing the foundations public spending audit 2024-25, published on 29 July 2024, if she will take steps to ensure the 2024 pay award for teachers is funded at a school level and takes account of existing staffing costs.

To support schools with overall costs, the department is providing almost £1.1 billion in 2024/25 through the new Core Schools Budget Grant (CSBG). This matches what the department has calculated is needed to fully fund, at a national level, the teacher pay award and the support staff pay offer in the 2024/25 financial year, over and above the available headroom in schools’ existing budgets. Guidance on the new CSBG can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/core-schools-budget-grant-csbg-2024-to-2025.

The department understands that the picture will be different for individual schools and that funding will not always match a school’s precise costs. The formula allocates funding based on schools’ pupil numbers and their characteristics. Schools can then decide how to use this funding, including how many teachers and support staff to employ. When the department allocates grant funding for additional costs, it calculates the cost across the whole system and then adds that cost into the formula. This approach keeps funding fair. If grant funding was based on each schools’ specific teacher costs, then funding would be disproportionately allocated to the schools that already spend the most on their teachers and support staff, rather than giving every school a fair increase in their spending power.

Catherine McKinnell
Minister of State (Education)
30th Aug 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contractual penalties will be incurred by (a) the A303 Stonehenge tunnel, (b) the A27 bypass project and (c) other major infrastructure projects that have now been cancelled.

In the case of the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down (Stonehenge Tunnel), although the contracts were awarded, the construction had not commenced. Following the announcement to cancel the project National Highways is working with its contractors to bring ontracts to a close in a controlled manner.


In the case of the A27 Arundel bypass, although a design and build contract had been awarded, construction had not commenced and following the deferral announcement in March 2023 the contract was brought to a controlled close with limited liabilities or additional costs.

Lilian Greenwood
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
30th Aug 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of the decision to change eligibility requirements for the winter fuel payment on the public purse.

In 2022/23, 11.4 million people in 8.4 million households in Great Britain received a Winter Fuel Payment, at a total cost of £2 billion.

The Government estimates that linking entitlement to receipt of Pension Credit and other relevant DWP income-related benefits will reduce expenditure by around £1.4 billion in 2024/25 and £1.5bn in 2025/26.

Emma Reynolds
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
29th Jul 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to increase Bereavement Support Payments in line with inflation.

Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) helps people through the immediate period following a bereavement by way of an initial lump sum followed by up to 18 monthly instalments. Where longer-term financial support is needed, benefits such as Universal Credit have been specifically designed to provide assistance with ongoing living costs. We have no current plans to change the duration of Bereavement Support Payment.

The rate of Bereavement Support Payment is reviewed on a discretionary basis as part of the annual uprating process, but there is no legal requirement to uprate it. BSP is not a cost-of-living benefit like Universal Credit, which has been increased in line with inflation. We will review the rate of Bereavement Support Payment later this year as part of the annual uprating process.

Andrew Western
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
4th Sep 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support biomedical research into (a) long covid and (b) myalgic encephalomyelitis.

The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC) are committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences, and treatment of long COVID and ME/CFS, and are actively exploring next steps for research in these areas.

Over the last five years, the Government, through the NIHR and the MRC, has invested over £50 million into long COVID research through two specific research calls. The projects funded aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease, and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate clinical care.

The MRC has provided £4.15 million of ME/CFS research funding since 2013, including £3.19 million jointly awarded with the NIHR for the DecodeME project, which aims to find genetic risk factors of ME/CFS to better understand the disease and ultimately to find treatments. The NIHR has committed approximately £3.9 million of programme funding over the same period.

As findings emerge from current research, we encourage researchers to apply for funding to build on and develop the newly established infrastructure, partnerships, and research capabilities. Government research funders remain available to support long COVID and ME/CFS researchers in their applications for funding.

Andrew Gwynne
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
30th Aug 2024
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed application of VAT on private school fees on families who are unable to access appropriate SEND support in state schools.

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 state education system


This VAT change will not impact pupils with most acute additional needs where these can only be met in private schools, as determined by an Education and Health Care Plan in England, and equivalent processes in other nations.

Where pupils are placed in a private school because their needs cannot be met in the state sector, and they have their places funded by their Local Authority, the Local Authority will be able to reclaim the VAT they incur on these pupils’ fees. In Northern Ireland, it will be the Education Authority who fund placements in private schools and will be able to reclaim the VAT in this way.

The government will publish a Tax Information and Impact Note setting out the impacts of the changes, including the equalities impacts, alongside the Finance Bill.

James Murray
Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
30th Aug 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans she has to work with Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to help reduce reoffending by people in the criminal justice system.

The Ministry of Justice, working with the Department of Health and Social Care, is firmly committed to reducing reoffending by addressing health-related causes of offending behaviour.

Where appropriate, we are working to divert offenders with health needs out of the criminal justice system altogether, including through Liaison & Diversion services, present in all police custody suites and criminal courts in England. Community Sentence Treatment Requirements can also be used as part of community or suspended sentences. Previous research has shown reduced reoffending rates for these types of sentences compared to short custodial sentences, and we are working to evaluate their use.

For those in prison, we work in close partnership with NHS England, who are responsible for commissioning healthcare services, including drug treatment, in all English prisons, so that all prisoners have access to health care equivalent to that in the community. We also work with the Welsh Government, who are ultimately responsible for commissioning and delivering health services for people in prison in Wales. We also work in partnership to ensure that our prisons provide wider support to help prisoners engage with treatment. 80 prisons currently have Incentivised Substance Free Living units where prisoners commit to regular drug tests.

We also want to better support rehabilitation of prisoners leaving custody, who have engaged in treatment and help them to remain in treatment on release. NHS England’s RECONNECT service supports prison leavers with vulnerabilities including mental health and substance misuse needs to engage with services through referrals and peer support.

Nicholas Dakin
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
30th Aug 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the work of the prison and probation services work with (a) smaller organisations that cannot easily compete for commissioned contracts and (b) other third sector organisations involved in reducing reoffending.

I want to acknowledge the valuable work that the third sector does in supporting the work of the Department. Officials meet regularly with the third sector to discuss mutual areas of interest.

To provide services that are best value for money, responsive to local need, and fit for purpose, it is important that organisations of all sizes can participate in contracts.

HMPPS is working to encourage and facilitate participation of voluntary community and social enterprises in the justice system, by simplifying contracting processes for lower value contracts to make them more accessible for third sector organisations. There is ongoing work to support and upskill the sector in the bidding process.

Furthermore, as part of our planning to recommission current services, we are engaging with interested parties, including current and potential suppliers, the third sector, prison and probation staff, and people in prison and on probation to support the commissioning and design of future services.

Nicholas Dakin
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
30th Aug 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will take steps to help ensure that the probation service works closely with other services critical to reducing reoffending.

The role of the Probation Service is crucial in protecting the public, turning offenders’ lives around, and providing a path of reintegration into the community to ultimately break the cycle of reoffending. The Probation Service works collaboratively with many partner organisations across the criminal justice system – police forces, local authorities, health providers, the third sector, and others – to drive down offending and keep our streets safe.

There are already great examples of partnership working between HMPPS and others. For example, in Greater Manchester, HMPPS’s temporary accommodation provision is delivered in partnership between HMPPS and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, to improve efficiency and outcomes. We will continue to encourage and facilitate participation of partners to ensure the services provided are fit for purpose and meet local needs.

Nicholas Dakin
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
30th Aug 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the scope will be of her Department's strategic review of probation governance.

The Probation Service has a crucial role in protecting the public and providing a path of reintegration into the community to break the cycle of reoffending. The Service delivers these goals by working closely with local partners – such as police forces, local authorities, and third sector organisations, amongst others. The Government is committed to learning from successful examples of local partnerships and support the whole service to improve join-up and deliver better outcomes.

Nicholas Dakin
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
30th Aug 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost was of (a) a prison place, (b) the supervision of a person on licence following release from prison and (c) the delivery of a community order by the Probation Service in the latest 12 month period for which data is available.

Information on the average annual cost per prisoner, cost per prison place and overall prison unit cost for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales is published by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) after the end of each financial year on the gov.uk website.

The overall average cost for running a prison place for a year (per prison place) in 2022-23 was £51,724. This information can also be found through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-performance-data-2022-to-2023.

The Ministry of Justice expects the 2023-24 Prison Unit Cost data to be published in December 2024, once the 2023-24 HMPPS Annual Report & Accounts have been published.

The average cost to the Probation Service in 2023-24 of an additional person on the probation licence caseload (including probation pre-release costs) was estimated at c.£4,500 compared with c.£3,150 for an additional person on the probation court order caseload (community orders and suspended sentence orders). This can be found through the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65537c7d50475b000dc5b590/Sentencing_Bill_-_IA_-_HDC.pdf.

Note that the costs presented exclude some costs to the Ministry of Justice, such as the costs of building prisons, costs not directly tied to changes in probation caseload and MoJ HQ costs.

Nicholas Dakin
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
30th Aug 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average caseload of probation officers in England and Wales was in each of the last ten years for which figures are available.

The average caseload of Probation Officers has been calculated using data from the Workload Measurement Tool (WMT) and has been presented for the period July 2021 to June 2024. Data has been restricted to this period because the Probation Service unified in June 2021, with some Probation Officers and their caseload held by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) prior to this point. The Probation Service does not have access to data for caseload held by CRCs and so it would not be consistent to present a time series prior to June 2021.

Table One: Probation Officer average annual caseload across England and Wales

Period

Annual average caseload per Probation Officer

July 21 – June 22

36.0

July 22 – June 23

37.1

July 23 – June 24

35.2

Notes

  • The data within the WMT are manually entered by Senior Probation Officers (SPOs) for those in their line management chain. These data are subject to inaccuracy as a result of the manual nature with which data are entered.

  • Annual average caseload per Probation Officer has been calculated by taking the average caseload on the last day of each month in that period (an average across the 12 months).

  • We are aware of data quality concerns regarding some of the data with some instances of cases being allocated to those who are not delivering caseload. There may be cases where staff who have left the Probation Service still appear to hold caseload on the WMT. Some staff on long-term absences (e.g. career breaks / long-term sickness) may still have a caseload allocated to them. There are also instances where those with no contracted hours are allocated cases without having an allocated capacity. Average caseload does not take into account the level of risk or complexity of cases, and this will have a large effect on the workload of Probation Officers.

  • Data have not been presented for the period prior to June 2021, the point at which unification of the Probation Service took place. Prior to June 2021, some Probation Officers and caseload were held by CRCs, data for which is not included in the WMT. It would not be consistent to present a time series of caseload per Probation Officer before and after unification.

Nicholas Dakin
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
30th Jul 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of increasing funding for support services for victims of sexual assault and violence.

Rape and sexual violence are devastating crimes that can have life-long impacts on victims and survivors. This Government is fully committed to supporting victims and survivors, and that is why we have made it a priority to halve violence against women and girls.

The Ministry of Justice funds a range of support services for victims and survivors of sexual violence, both through direct grant funding to organisations (such as the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund) and through funding to Police and Crime Commissioners. These services offer tailored support to victims and survivors of all ages to help them cope with their experiences and move forward with their lives. These services complement the wider support system across Government, such as NHS England-funded Sexual Assault Referral Centres.

Funding after March 2025 will be agreed through the next Spending Review.

Alex Davies-Jones
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)