Laura Sandys

Conservative - Former Member for South Thanet

First elected: 6th May 2010


Laura Sandys is not a member of any APPGs
Ecclesiastical Committee (Joint Committee)
15th Oct 2012 - 30th Mar 2015
Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
23rd Jun 2010 - 30th Mar 2015
Energy and Climate Change Committee
12th Jul 2010 - 5th Nov 2012
Draft House of Lords Reform Bill (Joint Committee)
23rd Jun 2011 - 26th Mar 2012


Division Voting information

Laura Sandys has voted in 1003 divisions, and 11 times against the majority of their Party.

23 Feb 2015 - Serious Crime Bill [Lords] - View Vote Context
Laura Sandys voted No - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 78 Conservative No votes vs 151 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 201 Noes - 292
21 May 2013 - Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill - View Vote Context
Laura Sandys voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 124 Conservative Aye votes vs 134 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 366 Noes - 161
20 May 2013 - Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill - View Vote Context
Laura Sandys voted No - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 99 Conservative No votes vs 121 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 150 Noes - 340
20 May 2013 - Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill - View Vote Context
Laura Sandys voted No - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 95 Conservative No votes vs 125 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 148 Noes - 339
20 May 2013 - Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill - View Vote Context
Laura Sandys voted No - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 92 Conservative No votes vs 126 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 163 Noes - 321
5 Feb 2013 - Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill - View Vote Context
Laura Sandys voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 131 Conservative Aye votes vs 139 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 400 Noes - 175
11 Jul 2012 - Sittings of the House - View Vote Context
Laura Sandys voted No - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 87 Conservative No votes vs 142 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 241 Noes - 256
11 Jul 2012 - Sittings of the House - View Vote Context
Laura Sandys voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 93 Conservative Aye votes vs 139 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 267 Noes - 233
11 Jul 2012 - Sittings of the House - View Vote Context
Laura Sandys voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 90 Conservative Aye votes vs 123 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 280 Noes - 184
11 Jul 2012 - Sittings of the House - View Vote Context
Laura Sandys voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 39 Conservative Aye votes vs 167 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 205 Noes - 228
10 Oct 2011 - Protection of Freedoms Bill (Programme) (No. 3) - View Vote Context
Laura Sandys voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 40 Conservative Aye votes vs 198 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 62 Noes - 243
View All Laura Sandys Division Votes

All Debates

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 Cameron of Chipping Norton (Conservative)
Foreign Secretary
(16 debate interactions)
John Bercow (Speaker)
(14 debate interactions)
Lord Benyon (Conservative)
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
(12 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
Department Debates
Department of Health and Social Care
(28 debate contributions)
HM Treasury
(24 debate contributions)
View All Department Debates
Legislation Debates
Laura Sandys has not made any spoken contributions to legislative debate
View all Laura Sandys's debates

South Thanet Petitions

e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.

If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.

If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).

Laura Sandys has not participated in any petition debates

Latest EDMs signed by Laura Sandys

Laura Sandys has not signed any Early Day Motions

Commons initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Laura Sandys, 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.


Laura Sandys has not been granted any Urgent Questions

2 Adjournment Debates led by Laura Sandys

Monday 24th October 2011
Tuesday 5th July 2011

2 Bills introduced by Laura Sandys


A Bill to require private landlords to ensure that any property they let meets the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard; and for connected purposes.

Commons - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading: House Of Commons
Wednesday 28th January 2015

The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to prohibit local authorities granting planning permission involving the development of Grade 1 agricultural land other than in exceptional circumstances; and for connected purposes

Commons - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading: House Of Commons
Wednesday 11th May 2011

Laura Sandys has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting


Latest 6 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
10th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to which local authorities penalties have been issued for breaches of the Clean Air Act 1993 since May 2010.

The Clean Air Act includes fines for various offences to be enforced by local authorities through the magistrate courts. It does not provide for enforcement on local authorities. As the regulators, records of these should be held by local authorities. There is no requirement in the Act for local authorities to notify Defra of fines levied. Therefore, the department does not hold data for offences recorded as issued by local authorities for companies or private individuals.

10th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how and to whom the pollution alert on ozone in Eastern England was distributed on 18 July 2014.

Defra issued an air pollution alert to the public on 18 July this year due to levels of ozone measured at Sibton (189µgm3) and St Osyth (185µgm3) in Eastern England. The alert was issued when hourly measurements exceeded the ozone public information threshold of 180 µg/m3 (micrograms per metre cubed) as defined in the Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC.

The alert was issued on Defra’s UK_Air website at:

http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/latest/alerts, and air quality Twitter feed @defraUKAir, giving details of the locations and measurements, as well as relevant health advice. Members of the public can also receive air quality information such as alerts by signing up to email bulletins at http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/subscribe.

Defra works closely with Public Health England to ensure information and health advice is provided to the public when pollution levels are elevated.

10th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which smoke control areas are currently designated in England and Wales.

The power to designate smoke control areas under Part 3 of the Clean Air Act 1993 lies with local authorities as the regulators. Under the Act local authorities are required to publish details of the areas created in the London Gazette and their local newspapers prior to creating the associated smoke control orders. Therefore, the definitive lists of designated areas are held by individual local authorities.

10th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will introduce measures to reduce the sugar content of food modelled on those introduced to replace the salt content of food between 2003 and 2011.

Under the Government’s voluntary partnership with industry the focus is on overall calorie reduction, of which sugar can form a part. This has resulted in real progress in reducing calories.

The Scientific Advisory Committee Report on Nutrition has recently published their draft recommendations on Carbohydrates. The final report, together with recommendations from Public Health England on sugar in the diet is due next spring. This will inform the Government’s future thinking on sugar.

10th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce sugar intake by the public.

We are working with industry to cut sugar and calories across a range of products, including fast food and fizzy drinks. We are also the first country in Europe to recommend simple voluntary front of pack labelling, which will help people to know how much sugar they are consuming. Businesses who have adopted front of pack labelling account for two-thirds of the packaged foods market.

Public Health England (PHE) is leading the way on helping people cut calories from sugar and other foods through the Change4Life campaign. PHE is also undertaking a review of the evidence on sugar in the diet and will make recommendations next spring.

10th Oct 2014
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, to what extent responsibility for preventing the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes (a) has been devolved to Public Health England and (b) remains with his Department.

As steward of the health and care system, the Department sets national priorities, secures and allocates resources, supports our national bodies and holds them to account. The Department carries out this function for the prevention of obesity and diabetes. “Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A Call to Action on obesity in England” is the strategy by which this is delivered and I chair the Obesity Review Group which reviews and holds the system to account.

The delivery of national public health functions in this regard is the responsibility of Public Health England (PHE) including campaigns such as Change4Life, the National Child Measurement Programme and NHS Health Checks. PHE supports local authorities and the health system through making available evidence and information on the important role of tackling poor diets, physical inactivity and excess weight in both the primary prevention of diabetes and as part of disease management.

In addition NHS England has a key role to play on the prevention on obesity and diabetes. “Action for Diabetes”, published in January, sets out NHS England’s broad vision and direction for supporting improvements in outcomes for people with and at risk of diabetes in the coming years, both as a direct commissioner and by providing support to the commissioning system. The report is available at:

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/act-for-diabetes.pdf

“Living Well for Longer: National Support for Local Action to Reduce Premature Avoidable Mortality”, published in April, sets out the actions being taken across Government, PHE and NHS England to reduce premature avoidable mortality.

A copy of Living Well for Longer has already been placed in the Library and is also available at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/307703/LW4L.pdf