Petitions calls on Government to publish a dedicated covid-19 recovery strategy for new parents
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The Petitions Committee has today launched its report, “Impact
of covid-19 on new parents: one year on”, which calls on the
Government to publish a dedicated covid-19 recovery strategy for
new parents. This new report follows the
Committee’s inquiry last year into the impact of covid-19
on new parents, after an e-petition - ‘Extend maternity leave
by 3 months with pay in light of COVID-19’ - received 238,884
signatures. The...Request free trial
The Petitions Committee has today launched its report, “Impact of covid-19 on new parents: one year on”, which calls on the Government to publish a dedicated covid-19 recovery strategy for new parents. This new report follows the Committee’s inquiry last year into the impact of covid-19 on new parents, after an e-petition - ‘Extend maternity leave by 3 months with pay in light of COVID-19’ - received 238,884 signatures. The Committee’s resulting report, published in July 2020, found that “the impact of the pandemic on new parents and their children has so far not been given as much attention as it should have been”. However, while the Government’s response to that report expressed sympathy with the position of expectant and new parents, it did not accept the Committee’s recommendations on actions to address this impact. In July 2021, a year on from the publication of the report, the Petitions Committee took further evidence from campaigners and experts to assess progress against the problems identified and recommendations made in the report, hearing about the experiences of new parents over the past year and in light of the easing of covid-19 restrictions. To inform the evidence session, the Committee also sought the views of new parents and childcare providers through a survey and online engagement, which received over 8,700 responses. Among its key findings, 77% of new parents said that “the cost of childcare has prevented me from getting the kind of childcare I need”, and 93% disagreed that they had been able to access crucial baby and toddler groups over the past 12 months. These concerns are addressed in the Committee’s new report. In light of the pandemic’s ongoing impact on new parents, as set out in the report, and the need for a sustained focus from the Government to support this group, the Committee’s new report now recommends that the Government should publish a dedicated covid-19 recovery strategy for new parents, bringing together all Government actions to support this group, with a clear delivery plan. Other key recommendations made in the report include calling on the Government to:
Chair of the Petitions Committee, Catherine McKinnell MP, said: “It is extremely concerning that over a year after the publication of the Committee’s first report on this subject, there has been little or no progress on the overwhelming majority of our recommendations. “The Government has offered no ‘catch-up’ funding to help new parents access support services disrupted during the pandemic, and no targeted funding to provide extra mental health support specifically for new parents. It has also failed to deliver the extension of redundancy protections for new parents it promised in its response to our report last year. “Although the Government’s plans for long-term capacity-building in areas such as perinatal mental health and children’s development in the first 1001 days are positive, these do not go far enough to address the immediate needs of new parents or their children. “We have continued to receive petitions highlighting the difficulties new parents, and the services they rely on during the vital early months of their child’s life, have continued to face over the last year. It is clear that the impact of the pandemic is still being felt. “The Government must now reconsider its response and urgently take action to put in place support. It has been incredibly valuable to hear from petitioners and experts on this subject, and the Committee will continue to challenge the Government to bring forward the changes we have concluded need to be made.” The Petitions Committee have submitted the report for consideration, and expect to receive a prompt response from the Government on this issue. Notes to editors Petitions debates allow MPs from across the House to discuss the important issues raised by one or more petitions, and put their concerns to Government Ministers. The Petitions Committee is set up by the House of Commons to look at e-petitions and public (paper) petitions. It can:
The Committee is currently made up of 11 backbench Members of Parliament from Government and Opposition parties. The number of seats each party has is calculated to reflect the membership of the House as a whole. The Chair of the Committee was elected on 29 January 2020. The members of the Committee are: o Catherine McKinnell (Chair) - Labour o Tonia Antoniazzi - Labour o Elliot Colburn - Conservative o Martyn Day - Scottish National Party o Katherine Fletcher - Conservative o Nick Fletcher - Conservative o Jonathan Gullis - Conservative o Tom Hunt – Conservative o Taiwo Owatemi – Labour o Christina Rees – Labour o Matt Vickers – Conservative |