Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Enterprise and Markets
(): The Government has
today published its response to the consultation on parental
leave and pay. This confirms that the Government will make
changes to Paternity Leave, delivering its manifesto commitment
to make it easier to take.
In July 2019, the Government consulted on whether the current
arrangements for parental leave and pay met our policy
objectives, and if more could be done to better balance the
gender division of parental leave and pay between parents. We
sought views on the costs and benefits of reforming parental
entitlements, and any trade-offs that might need to accompany
such reform.
The Government response, published today and placed in the house
libraries, sets out the changes now planned for Paternity Leave,
fulfilling our commitment to make it easier to take. Government
will legislate when parliamentary time allows to:
-
Give employed fathers and partners more choice and
flexibility around how and when they take their Paternity
Leave, allowing them to take two separate blocks of one week of
leave if they wish.
-
Give employed fathers and partners the ability to take
their leave at any time in the first year, rather than just in
the first eight weeks after birth or placement for
adoption.
-
Change the notice requirements for Paternity Leave to make
these more proportionate to the amount of time the
father/parent plans to take off work. We will cut the amount of
notice of dates from 15 weeks before the expected week of
childbirth to 28 days before the leave will be taken - this
will give parents more flexibility in planning to take the
leave that they need.
The territorial extent of the proposals included in the
Government’s consultation response extends to Great Britain
(employment law is devolved to Northern Ireland). These changes
are anticipated to take effect in April 2024, subject to
parliamentary scheduling.
More details of the Government’s plans can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/good-work-plan-proposals-to-support-families(opens
in a new tab).
Shared Parental Leave and Pay Evaluation
The Government is also publishing today the Shared Parental Leave
and Pay (SPL) Evaluation which has assessed the extent to which
the implementation and take-up of SPL achieved its original
objectives: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/shared-parental-leave-spl-evaluation(opens
in a new tab). The evaluation showed positive results for
both parents and business, boasting greater work life balance for
parents, and improving retention and recruitment for employers.
The uptake of SPL was also in line with projections made at its
rollout and has doubled between 2015-16 and 2021-22.
Government is committed to supporting labour market
participation, including participation by parents. Parental Leave
and Pay policies give employed parents a right to time off work
in the first year of their child’s life and supports them in
their return to work. This represents an important part of our
drive to deliver growth by helping people to access and stay in
work.
