Caroline Voaden

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Parliament's party history for this member: Liberal Democrat (4 Jul 2024 – present).

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1. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Caroline Voaden

   Train Services: Extreme Weather

   Forgive me for being late, but the railway did not want me to be here for the start of this debate. My hon. Friend talks about the impact of delays on the line on working people; we in the west of England are going to be impacted for two years or possibly more by the works at Old Oak Common. For the tiny sum of £12 million, which is just over half of what is being spent every day on HS2, highspeed wi-fi could be put on every one of the 94 trains on the Great Western Railway network. If it was, all those working people like me who get stuck on delayed and slow trains going down to the west of England would not mind an extra 10 or 15 minutes on the journey time, because it would be productive. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government need to fund that project?

   Hansard source
2. 27 Oct 2026·Parliament·Caroline Voaden

   Council Housing

   It is an honour to serve with you in the chair, Sir Jeremy. South Devon is a beautiful part of the world, with its stunning coastline and idyllic rural villages, but scratch the surface and you will find a severe housing crisis, which is eating away at the viability of our rural and coastal communities, threatening the very fabric of village life and turning parts of it into a theme park for the rich. Wages have fallen so far out of step with housing costs that local people are just being priced out of the communities they grew up in. I welcome aspects of the Bill, but it simply does not address the mechanics driving this crisis. Housing associations exist to provide homes for people who cannot afford to buy or rent on the open market, yet a growing number of those homes are leaving the sector altogether. Since 2018-19, English housing associations have sold more than 25,000 social and affordable homes to private buyers, and the pace is quickening. Last year’s sales were the highest on record, having risen 89% in just two years. Towns such as Salcombe and Dartmouth in South Devon are among the most expensive places to live in the country. Yes, they are full of second homes and short-term lets, but they are not just holiday destinations. Real people live there. These are people who grew up there, people who work there and people who keep essential local services running, but they are being priced out. One local housing association has sold 49 social homes since 2022, with the biggest losses in those high-cost areas. In Kingswear, another beautiful village by the sea, more than a third of the social housing stock has vanished in just three years; the primary school has closed down and with so few affordable homes left, there is nothing to draw young families back to the area. When challenged, the housing association points to replacement homes that it has bought in Sherford, a new town on the edge of Plymouth that is 30 miles away. That is no comfort to a family forced out of Kingswear. Let us set that against demand. Across the South Hams and Torbay, 3,600 homes have been built in five years, but more than 2,500 households remain in formal housing need. That is because most of the new homes are sold at full market price, far beyond the reach of those who need them. When a social rented home does come up, the competition is extreme: there were 119 bids for one home in Malborough, 113 for one in Salcombe and 190 for one in Brixham. The council has no say when a housing association decides to sell. The Social Housing Bill introduces a new disposal notification requirement intended to give local authorities a better chance of acquiring homes that would otherwise leave the sector. That is a step in <span id="92WH" class="column-number" data-column-number="92WH"></span>the right direction and I welcome it, but it is not going to work, because being told that a home is about to be sold is not the same as being able to do anything about it. The Bill gives the council no first refusal, no priority and no right to step in ahead of a private buyer. I would like to give a shout-out to Clay Park in Dartington, where a community land trust is delivering 39 energy-efficient homes, all for social rent, for people with local connections. We need to see this in all our villages: a few social homes in every village to keep it viable, keep young families there and allow older people to downsize. Community land trusts need to be able to build more easily. What provisions have been made in the Bill to support the work of these much-valued bodies?

   Hansard source
3. 20 Oct 2026·Parliament·Caroline Voaden

   Topical Questions

   Torbay hospital, which serves my constituency, is one of the oldest parts of the NHS estate, and the Devon and Cornwall fire services recently ruled that its tower block would now be unsafe in the event of a fire. A quarter of the beds in the hospital are in that tower block, so patients are now being moved. Staff are extremely worried about what will come next, and this is making the hospital much less viable. Will the Minister meet me, and other Devon Members, to discuss its future funding, and the need to make it safe and secure and ensure that it continues to operate?

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4. 15 Oct 2026·Parliament·Caroline Voaden

   Data Centres: South-west

   <Question HRSContentId="{3EA7B16D-4629-4C48-AAA4-B09401223015}">9. <QuestionText HRSContentId="{DD0190C2-A84B-4DC8-A245-747058C50C28}">What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of data centre developments on resource capacity in the south-west. </QuestionText></Question>

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5. 15 Oct 2026·Parliament·Caroline Voaden

   Data Centres: South-west

   Water UK says data centres in England are using about 6.6 million litres of drinking water a day and that is set to triple by 2030. Meanwhile, households in Devon and Cornwall have been under a hosepipe ban since August and businesses are now facing water restrictions. Given the dry weather that we have had and the fact there is probably a lot more to come, have the Government considered legislating to require new data centres to operate with low water dependency, particularly when they are being built in the south of England where water shortages will become even more pressing?

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6. 15 Oct 2026·Parliament·Caroline Voaden

   Sustainable Farming Incentive

   The Minister recently visited Dartmoor. Richard, a farmer on Dartmoor, was just one of the many farmers who wrote to me following the SFI scheme to say that his farm, which protects and enhances the beauty and environment of Dartmoor, has been in a scheme for 30 years but lost out on this application. He and his wife are now seriously wondering how they are going to make ends meet. I have heard from numerous other farmers who have lost out and whose schemes will now end. They do not know how they are going to survive. It would be good if the Minister could show a little more contrition and humility, and just say, “Yeah, it didn’t work. We’re really sorry and we’re going to do better next year.” Can the Minister guarantee that the scheme will be better designed next year? Will it operate better, support the smaller farmers who rely on it for their future, and be adequately funded?

   Hansard source
7. 14 Oct 2026·Parliament·Caroline Voaden

   Underperforming NHS Trusts: Government Oversight

   My hon. Friend talks about the challenges that NHS trusts face. My local hospital, Torbay hospital, has an ageing tower block that has now received a fire enforcement notice, which could affect up to a quarter of the beds in the hospital. Panic is spreading today in the local community about what this means for future treatment. Does she agree that when things become as urgent as that, with a quarter of the beds in the hospital potentially having to be closed by the fire brigade, the Government desperately need to bring forward the new hospital programme funding, so that repair and remedial work can begin immediately to restore this part of the hospital?

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8. 14 Oct 2026·Parliament·Caroline Voaden

   Benefit Entitlements: War Pension and Armed Forces Compensation

   Will my hon. Friend give way?

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9. 14 Oct 2026·Parliament·Caroline Voaden

   Benefit Entitlements: War Pension and Armed Forces Compensation

   I have heard from several veterans in my constituency who have served and left the forces with a modest occupational pension but now need universal credit to make ends meet. Because their pension is counted as income, they receive less support, and for some the reduction is substantial. Does my hon. Friend agree that the current treatment is not consistent with the armed forces covenant and that something needs to change?

   Hansard source
10. 12 Oct 2026·Parliament·Caroline Voaden

    Rejoining the EU

    It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Edward. Ten years ago, the British public voted to leave the EU by a wafer-thin margin in a referendum marred by mistruths, deception and Russian interference. Our exit was then badly planned, badly executed and damaged the UK’s economic prospects and political reputation. I thank the 319 people from South Devon who got us into the top 10 constituencies with the most signatures on this petition, which calls for us to seek to rejoin the EU as soon as possible. It is time that we all recognise that Brexit has catastrophically failed to deliver what was promised. Let me be clear: I will never blame anyone for voting leave. I understand why they did. They were promised higher living standards, control over our borders and freedom from laws imposed by Brussels. But those promises were misleading. The Vote Leave campaign exploited people’s fears through targeted social media, false claims about Turkey joining the EU and the infamous lie that £350 million a week would go to the NHS. What Brexiteers did not explain was the cost to businesses trading with Europe, the mountain of additional paperwork and the crippling red tape that has pushed South Devon’s fishers, shellfish exporters and farmers to the brink. They did not talk about the billions of pounds of EU investment supporting projects across the UK, from Cornwall’s Eden Project and Newquay airport to Welsh infrastructure, Yorkshire regeneration and university research programmes. Nor did they explain that British homeowners in Europe would face a 90-day stay limit or that young people would lose opportunities to work, study and build friendships across Europe. Brexiteers also failed to explain that Britain already had a seat at the table helping shape European legislation. I know that because I was fortunate enough to have a seat at that table, serving in the European Parliament and being directly involved in designing and implementing legislation that affected the UK. We were not simply dictated to by Brussels; we helped make the rules. Indeed, our representation was only as effective as the people we sent, and unfortunately, we sent the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) before he was the hon. Member for Clacton. He attended just one of 42 European Fisheries Committee meetings over three years, so our fishers were literally not represented while legislation affecting them was drawn up. Yes, EU membership cost money, but leaving has cost us considerably more. The OBR’s March 2025 forecasts, as we have heard, estimate that Brexit will reduce long-run <span id="21WH" class="column-number" data-column-number="21WH"></span>productivity by 4%, largely because of additional barriers to trade. Research has estimated cumulative losses to the UK economy of £180 billion to £240 billion, while other studies point to falls in economic activity, productivity and business investment. The precise estimates vary, but their assessment is clear: Brexit has lowered investment and dampened our economy. The hon. Member for East Wiltshire (Danny Kruger) argued that our economy has grown since Brexit, but it could have grown by so much more if we had not left. The promised sunlit uplands remain a fantasy. Our new trade deals cannot compensate for what we lost. The agreements with India, Australia and Japan are collectively forecast to deliver around 0.25% of GDP—a pathetic substitute for the frictionless trade with our 27 nearest neighbours. Whatever the views are on Brexit, we cannot change geography. I welcome the Prime Minister’s recognition that we must face up to the reality that Brexit has done more harm than good and that the status quo is definitely not good enough. The Liberal Democrats have been saying that for a long time, and we will continue to do so. We need a growth and security partnership with the EU that helps rebuild our economy while enabling us to tackle shared challenges: immigration, defence, security, the climate crisis and online harms. In today’s interconnected world, isolationism simply does not work. It is time to move beyond the politics of grievance and focus on the art of the possible. For me, that means the possibility of rejoining the EU as a full and active member.

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2024 General Election: South Devon

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