Biography
Baroness Smith of Basildon has engaged on health and social care through 16 debate speeches, with contributions spanning mental health, learning disability and autism, maternity and neonatal care, cancer, and public health. Her recent speeches demonstrate a focus on broader social determinants of health—including housing and employment—and reflections on historical policy impacts, such as her commentary on forced adoption and its effects on maternal mental health and women's wellbeing. The contributions show engagement primarily through formal parliamentary debate rather than targeted questioning on specific health policy areas.
Generated from their own Hansard record, below
“…As well as physical health, we need to do more on mental health issues, which have become a serious issue. If you look at the number of people who are not working because of mental health issues, you see that that is something that desperately needs changing across the country.”
Record by topic
- Learning disability & autism307th of 89912.0
- Mental health369th of 88010.0
- Cancer503rd of 6222.0
- Maternity & neonatal363rd of 4382.0
- Public health & prevention573rd of 6882.0
What they’ve said
“My Lords, today I pay tribute to Lord Laming. His lifetime of public service has left an indelible mark on the whole fabric of British social work, public management and the very conscience of our nation.”
Tributes: Lord Laming · 2026-07-22 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…There is also expanding access to specialist services, including mental health services, but also to reconnection services to help those who want to trace their families, and improving access to NHS services. This is not about individual compensation. We are seeking to give the people the support they need.”
Historical Forced Adoption · 2026-07-07 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…We have made improvements in mental health provision as well and have increased mental health spending to a record £16.1 billion. The need is there for this, particularly in this area. I have already outlined some of the specialist services, particularly by working with the NHS, that will be available.”
Historical Forced Adoption · 2026-07-07 · Read on Hansard ↗
“I am not sure that I can give the noble Lord further information beyond what I have already said—I will look at whether there is any more information I can send to him that can be in the public domain—but I think that shows our commitment to doing all that we can to help Ukraine because of the constant pressure that it…”
G7 Summit · 2026-06-23 · Read on Hansard ↗
“My Lords, I thank their Majesties for gracing us with their presence today as we begin the second Session of this Parliament. To reinforce the comments made by the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, they acted with professionalism, with dignity and, of course, with humour today, as we also saw in their recent visit to the Unit…”
King’s Speech · 2026-05-13 · Read on Hansard ↗
Contributions reproduced under the Open Parliament Licence.