Financial Services and Markets Bill [HL]

Baroness Tyler of Enfield Excerpts

Committee stage
Monday 29th June 2026 Grand Committee

Moved by

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield]

82: Clause 17, page 21, line 34, leave out subsections (2) to (11) and insert—
“(2) In section 3B(1) (regulatory principles to be applied by both regulators), after paragraph (h), insert—“(i) the need to consider financial inclusion.””

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD)]

My Lords, I rise to speak to three amendments I have in this group: Amendments 82, 95 and 97. This group is all about financial inclusion. It is a very important group. I am also very sympathetic to the amendments in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, and my noble friend Lady Kramer.

Amendment 82 would place financial inclusion where I believe it firmly belongs: among the regulatory principles set out in this legislation which the regulators must consider in carrying out their functions. This is not a novel idea. When I had the privilege to chair this House’s Financial Exclusion Committee back in 2017, we recommended that financial inclusion be given a firmer footing in the regulators’ duties. Indeed, when this House last legislated on these matters, in the 2023 Act, I am sorry to say that financial inclusion was not included as part of the regulatory principles. Despite a concerted effort at the time to put it on a statutory footing, we did not succeed, and my amendment would simply correct that. Financial inclusion, which determines whether millions of people can access the essentials of modern economic life, surely belongs in legislation.

However, the Bill as drafted moves in the opposite direction, confining the regulatory principles to strategic activities only, thus removing them from day-to-day decisions that impact the lives of millions of people, particularly those who are financially excluded. My amendment would ensure that financial inclusion remains a live consideration in the regulators’ day-to-day work. I say this to the Minister: if financial inclusion is genuinely a priority for this Government, why does it not sit among the principles the regulator must consider, and should these principles not be considered when implementing the activities that truly affect many people’s daily lives, rather than being set aside to apply only to more abstract strategic work?

I am conscious that, in the Committee’s debate last week, there were those who felt that any new principles should meet the “essential and enduring” test—I think the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, said that. In my view, financial inclusion is essential and enduring. Whether people can access banking, credit, insurance and savings is not a passing policy priority but a permanent structural feature of how the system serves, or fails to serve, the population. It has been a concern for decades and will remain one.

I turn now to my Amendments 95 and 97, which would require the FCA to report each year on how the exercise of its functions has affected financial inclusion, and to be ready to account to relevant parliamentary committees, which would include the Treasury Committee and the Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee, which we have just heard about. My purpose here is specific and, I hope, constructive: to ensure that financial inclusion is reported on openly every year and that the public and Parliament can scrutinise the activities of regulators in ensuring that we all have access to the financial services and products we need at a price we can afford.

We all know that what gets measured gets done. What is reported on, transparently and regularly, is far harder to neglect than what is not. This is not an abstract concern. When I chaired the Select Committee, we found that 1.7 million adults were without access to a basic bank account; that communities were losing their bank branches at an alarming rate, as we focused on last week; and that households on the lowest incomes were paying more for credit, insurance and essential services simply because they had less money. Nearly a decade on, too many of these problems persist. An annual report will give this House and the public a clear and reliable picture, year on year, of whether the position is improving or deteriorating on things such as access to bank accounts, access to face-to-face banking services, affordable credit and insurance—the list goes on.

Such a duty asks the FCA to ensure that those who are excluded from financial products and services are taken into account, with their experiences seen and their problems addressed. It creates no new rules for firms, which is an important point. It simply ensures that the fundamental question—“How are the most financially excluded people in this country being served?”—is asked and answered each year, in public, before Parliament.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Stockwood (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Holmes of Richmond, the noble Baronesses, Lady Tyler of Enfield and Lady Kramer, of Richmond Park, and other Peers for drawing attention to the important issue of financial inclusion. As someone who grew up in poverty, it is not an abstract concept to me and the community I come from.

The noble Baroness, Lady Tyler of Enfield, asked if I would meet her to discuss this agenda further. I would of course be happy to meet her and any other noble Lords who would like to discuss the topic. I will write to her ahead of that meeting on the FCA’s consumer duty and what it means for financial inclusion, but I assure noble Lords that the Government are not relying on the FCA’s consumer duty as a catch-all solution. The Government agree that people should be able to access the financial services they need—that is an important objective—but we think that these amendments are not necessary to achieve that.

Amendments 124, 128 and 104 would give the Financial Conduct Authority a new statutory financial inclusion objective and require it to establish an independent financial inclusion unit. These amendments focus on action and measurement. Financial inclusion requires all parts of the system to work together. That is why it is important for the Government to lead this agenda, not the FCA. To secure action, we have published a Financial Inclusion Strategy, setting out an ambitious package of measures to improve access to financial services.

The FCA is closely involved in delivering this work. Sarah Pritchard, the deputy chief executive, also sits on the Financial Inclusion Committee, which monitors the strategy and supports its implementation. The Government have taken formal steps to reinforce the FCA’s role in this area. In her most recent remit letter, the Chancellor asked the FCA to have regard to reinforcing financial inclusion, and the FCA is responding to that ask.

The FCA’s 2025-2030 strategy identifies helping consumers to navigate their financial lives as one of its four strategic priorities. As part of this, it highlights an increase in the consumers who hold key products as a success metric for its work, and it is acting on this. For example, to advance the Financial Inclusion Strategy’s aim of boosting savings, the FCA developed a regulatory statement to support the uptake of workplace saving schemes. On measurement, the FCA already plays an important role in tracking progress on financial inclusion through its flagship financial lives survey, which provides a strong evidence base for monitoring outcomes over time.

I recognise Amendment 128’s emphasis on independent scrutiny and prioritisation of financial inclusion in the FCA’s work. As part of the FCA’s statutory framework, the consumer panel is in place to represent the interests of consumers and provide independent advice and challenge to the FCA. As already covered, the FCA’s strategy and membership of the Financial Inclusion Committee means that financial inclusion is embedded in its work. This is more effective than an operationally independent unit.

On oversight and transparency, I understand the intention behind Amendment 104, which seeks to require the FCA and PRA to report annually on financial inclusion, and Amendment 95, which would require the FCA to report on financial inclusion metrics and how it has acted to improve financial inclusion. However, these amendments are not necessary or appropriately targeted. The regulators already report publicly and are accountable to Parliament. Moreover, the FCA’s financial lives survey provides a biannual update on a wide range of financial inclusion metrics in the UK, including the numbers of unbanked people, those who have been declined for a product and the experiences of vulnerable customers. The FCA is also closely involved in the delivery of the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy, which is a public document and subject to public review next year. Amendment 104 would place reporting duties on the PRA, whose statutory role is prudential regulation, creating uncertainty about the PRA’s remit and what it would be expected to report against.

Amendment 82 would add financial inclusion to the regulatory principles that the FCA and the PRA must have regard to when discharging their general functions. The Government do not agree that this is the right mechanism to ensure that financial inclusion is prioritised. The amendment would require unclear action from the PRA. Parliament regularly holds the regulators to account for their work on financial inclusion. The Commons Treasury Select Committee recently held a session with the FCA’s deputy CEO for its Financial Inclusion Strategy inquiry. Amendment 97’s requirement that the FCA be prepared to demonstrate to relevant parliamentary committees how it has had regard to financial inclusion is therefore unnecessary. Any relevant Select Committee can call the FCA and hold it to account for its work on financial inclusion.

Amendment 141 seeks to require the FCA to establish a new legal route for third- party access to control another person’s assets, which goes well beyond its regulatory remit. The law requires parents or guardians to have legal authority to make decisions about the financial assets or property of their adult children. This includes accessing funds held in a mature child trust fund. Decisions about who may act on behalf of a person lacking capacity are governed by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and are determined by the courts, reflecting the need for safeguards to protect vulnerable people. It is not appropriate for FCA rules to seek to substitute or override existing rules and processes. The Ministry of Justice recognises that the process of obtaining access can be challenging for the parents and carers of young people who lack capacity. It is exploring how the Government can best facilitate access for parents and carers to child trust funds on behalf of their children. I would be happy to raise this with the MoJ rather than berate it, as the noble Baroness suggests.

Turning to Amendment 161, I recognise how a broader set of data might support a more accurate assessment of underserved SMEs’ creditworthiness. However, it should be noted that the Treasury already has the ability in Section 4(5) of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 to specify the SME information that must be shared. We are actively considering updates to the scope of data in the next phase of the CCDS reforms. However, it will not be expanded in line with this amendment, given that it would require redesigning the scheme entirely, expanding it beyond financial services participants, some of whom see little return for their participation, which already imposes a degree of burden. I do not think it appropriate for financial services legislation to impose regulatory obligations on non-financial market actors in this way, not least without consultation. That is not to say the ambition is misplaced. Indeed, these issues are potentially better addressed through the future development of open finance and smart data initiatives.

Amendment 169 seeks to require a review of know-your-customer requirements. I understand the concern that the current framework may not always operate as it should in supporting access to financial services. As the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, rightly stated, technology is already playing a part but can do better. Indeed, businesses such as Quantexa and Onfido are leading the way in this space. The Government do not believe that anti-money laundering requirements and financial inclusion are mutually exclusive. The money laundering regulations already provide firms with the flexibility to take a proportionate and risk-based approach to customer due diligence. As part of the financial inclusion strategy, major high-street banks have launched pilots on improving access to bank accounts, demonstrating how financial inclusion initiatives can operate within the existing framework.

Reforms to make customer due diligence requirements more proportionate and effective have already been made, including through amendments to the money laundering regulations made via statutory instrument earlier this month. The Government are also taking steps to support the effective use of new technologies, such as through the publication in February of guidance on the use of digital identities to support customer verification. Finally, the money laundering regulations also mandate a review of their regulatory provisions every five years to assess whether they are effective, appropriate and proportionate. The next such review will be published in 2027.

The noble Lord, Lord Holmes, asked how financial inclusion has changed under the current Government. In November, we published the Financial Inclusion Strategy, which supports access to banking for those with no fixed abode and small-sum lending to help people access credit and makes it easier for people to save. The noble Baroness, Lady Tyler of Enfield, noted that when a House of Lords Select Committee looked at this topic, it found that 1.7 million people were unbanked. Although it is still too high, I can report that the latest survey data shows that the number of unbanked people has fallen to under one million. As I already set out, with many of the actions we are taking, the Government hope to reduce this further. Financial inclusion is not a gap in the framework. It is an agenda already being delivered by the Government, with the FCA closely engaged in its implementation. I therefore ask the noble Baroness to withdraw her amendment.

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his response and all noble Lords who have spoken on this group of amendments. The debate has been very thoughtful, and I very much appreciated the collaborative tone of the contributions. I thank the Minister very much for agreeing to meet me and other interested Peers, and I very much look forward to that happening before Report. I was also grateful to the Minister for emphasising the point that the consumer duty cannot be the be-all and end-all. As my noble friend Lady Kramer very clearly put it, it is not a duty of care.

Financial Services and Markets Bill [HL]

Baroness Tyler of Enfield Excerpts

Committee stage
Monday 22nd June 2026 Grand Committee

[Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (LD)]

My Lords, I will speak briefly to Amendments 24 and 27 in my name. I support what has just been said by the noble Lord, Lord Vaux. To some extent, we are again fishing in the same constitutional pond that regulators are not Parliament. Parliament should not give away powers it cannot get back, and it should not make decisions before we know what we are deciding about.

Amendment 24 would ensure that any regulations made under this clause can only make provision that arises directly from the statutory review. A review is not a blank cheque. If Parliament asks for a review of access to banking services, the regulation-making power should be, if not confined to, at least in some way related to what the review identifies and not what a future Minister or regulator might wish to do. That is my real target. It may be that I have drafted he amendment a little too tightly but, as has been explained, this is a very open-ended power to do anything. Looked at constitutionally, the fact that the consultation has not yet been completed and assessed more than stretches proper procedure.

Amendment 27 addresses a different but related concern. As drafted, the Bill creates machinery in which FCA rules effectively drive changes to legislation, including primary legislation. The FCA pulls the lever, the Treasury presses the button and the law moves to reflect the regulator’s rulebook. The Government will no doubt say that Parliament can always reject the regulations, but we all know how that plays out: Parliament is presented with take-it-or-leave-it unamendable statutory instruments, and if it dares to reject them, we are told we are precipitating a constitutional crisis. That is not meaningful parliamentary control.

I am not opposed to the FCA modernising rules or streamlining processes—far from it—but where those rules have the effect of altering rights or obligations that were created by Parliament, the change must meaningfully come back to Parliament. Otherwise, we risk creating a system where the regulator can, in substance, rewrite Acts of Parliament by changing its rulebook. That is not proportionate regulation; it is law-making without accountability. Again, this seems not to be the sort of thing expected under the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act. These amendments do not prevent modernisation; they simply ensure that modernisation happens within a statutory framework, with Parliament retaining oversight of the rights it has created. It does not mean going into the detail, but it does mean monitoring the rights. I hope the Minister will recognise that these are modest but important constitutional guardrails.

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD)]

My Lords, I shall speak to Amendment 22 in my name. I apologise for not being able to speak at Second Reading, as I was overseas on a parliamentary delegation. I declare an interest as a member of the Financial Inclusion Commission and president of the Money Advice Trust.

My amendment is specifically about banking hubs, a subject I have been very interested in ever since they came on the scene. There is a need, as I see it, for a far clearer definition of what constitutes a banking hub. Looking at the range of other amendments in this group, I am pleased that we are having a broader and much-needed debate on access to banking and, in particular, in-person services than we managed to have on the 2023 Act, despite my best efforts, which did not really get us anywhere.

To explain why a definition of “banking hubs” is so important, I will briefly look at the context. As we all know, over the past decade banking in the UK has changed profoundly. More than 6,700 high street bank branches have closed since 2015. Of course, at the same time, the way that people pay for goods and services has shifted dramatically: 10 years ago, more than half of all payments were made in cash, and today that figure is closer to one in 10.

For many people, that transition has been quite manageable, and indeed welcome, if they like the convenience of digital banking online, apps or card payments. But, for others, the shift away from local branches and cash-based services has created real barriers. For someone who cannot use online banking, the closure of a local bank branch can mean losing independent access to their own money. For someone who is blind or partially sighted, inaccessible digital systems can make everyday banking difficult or, frankly, impossible. For an older person without reliable transport, the nearest banking services may simply be out of reach. For those who use cash to budget—a proportion of people still do—or to pay carers, support relatives and retain control over household spending, the disappearance of in-person banking is not just a minor inconvenience; it can affect that feeling of control, autonomy and financial security.

Banking hubs emerged as a response to this new reality, providing shared in-person access to basic banking services, including cash withdrawals and deposits, as well as a limited amount of face-to-face support. I welcome banking hubs, as I have throughout this debate. I have been pleased to visit one and see what it involved. The Government have committed to rolling out 350 hubs by 2029. For me, the questions around banking hubs are: what do they actually do? Are they doing enough and being rolled out quickly enough? Are they addressing the needs of the people who need them most? These questions are ever more pressing following the announcement, which I very much welcome, of an independent review into the impact of bank branch closures, looking at what further interventions might be needed to protect access to in-person banking services.

The noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, raised whether this is all about nostalgia and looking back to how it was in the old days—a sort of “Dad’s Army” view of banking—but we really need to recognise that it is not a question of nostalgia for traditional banking. Banking services have and will continue to evolve, and digital services will remain central, in my view, to the future of financial services, but inclusion has to be built into that transition. At the moment, we have not seen quite enough emphasis on inclusion. That key gap remained and was baked into the 2023 legislation, which is why it is so important that the independent review looks at this and comes up with good recommendations, so that the FCA can specify what a banking hub is and what qualifies as one.

Frankly, at the moment, the industry could meet all the terms of regulation without a single banking hub. It can offer services virtually, in theory—namely, through video conferencing—which might have some merit in setting out the minimum requirements for a hub and holding the industry to them in the long term. The FCA might also choose to define hubs to suit rural areas. It might be a lighter-touch model. We have to make sure that this does not impact on the Post Office and that it allows further rollout. All the evidence I have seen so far has pointed to the importance of sustainability for the Post Office and the basic banking services that it provides under the framework agreement.

Moving forward, there are big challenges. At a recent meeting of the All-Party Group on Fair Banking, there were strong calls for the FCA to prevent closures of banks—the last branch in town—until replacement access is in place. There was a feeling that the current approach is frankly too reactive, with a response often coming only after the closure occurs, and there were questions of whether communities losing their final branch should automatically receive a hub, so that there should not have to be a review. The Post Office was very much recognised as a key national asset in supporting access to cash and basic banking services.

Employment Rights Bill

Baroness Tyler of Enfield Excerpts

Report stage
Monday 14th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Lab)]

My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 104, to which I have added my name. I do not intend to repeat the case I made in Committee for paid carer’s leave, and which was put very fully by the noble Lord, Lord Palmer of Childs Hill, but I am still unclear as to why the Government now, in effect, question that case, having made a commitment to paid leave on a number of previous occasions, as was demonstrated by the various quotes from Front-Bench spokespeople that I and the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, presented in Committee.

My noble friend Lord Katz rejected an earlier amendment in Committee, as we have heard, on the grounds of the costs to business, especially small business, and that it would create a situation of differential treatment. The present amendment, although detailed, simply commits the Government, as I understand it, to the principle of paid carer’s leave—a principle that had previously been accepted. It leaves to regulations the details of how paid leave would be designed. As regards the costs to business, as I said in Committee, many employers are very supportive and a CIPD consultation of its members found that support among SMEs was not much lower than among large employers.

Although it is welcomed that the Government are reviewing carer’s leave to see whether further support is needed, surely there is already more than enough evidence that, to be effective in supporting carers, the leave needs to be paid, and thus any review needs to focus on how that is best done rather than on whether it is needed. That said, can my noble friend the Minister tell us more about the review? To echo in particular the noble Lord, Lord Palmer, what are its terms of reference and objectives? What is the timeline? Will the outcome be published and debated in Parliament? The paucity of information about the review contrasts poorly with the recent Statement about the parental leave review.

In conclusion, if my noble friend the Minister is unable to accept the amendment, will he—I am not quite sure which Minister will reply—at least put on the record the Government’s commitment to paid carer’s leave as set out in Labour’s New Deal For Working People? Will he provide us with the requested information about the review of the Carer’s Leave Act?

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD)]

My Lords, in speaking to Amendment 104, in the name of my noble friend Lord Palmer, to which I too have added my name, I must apologise that I have been unable to speak at earlier stages of the Bill. I also strongly support Amendments 31 and 32 regarding kinship carers. I have spent a lot of time on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, where we have spent a lot of time talking about the importance of kinship care. We need to see join-up between that Bill and this Bill, so that kinship carers, who play such a critical role, get the support they need.

On Amendment 104 and the proposal for paid carer’s leave, which was set out admirably by my noble friend Lord Palmer, it is clear that it is both a modest proposition and incredibly important to unpaid carers trying to juggle work and caring. As we have heard, it would, in effect, turn the current provision—normally up to five days leave within 12 months, as set out in the Carer’s Leave Act and so already a clearly defined right—into a statutory pay entitlement. If you have supported a relative who needs care and worked at the same time, which many of us have, including me, you will know how time poor you are, that it is an incredible juggling act, and that paid carer’s leave can make a real difference.

I have spoken directly to carers who do not have paid carer’s leave in the workplace. They say that taking annual leave is exhausting and they never get a proper holiday. Unpaid leave was a useful step forward and it is right and important, but the unpaid nature of the leave can be challenging. As we have heard, a number of employers have already voluntarily embraced paid carer’s leave because they understand the beneficial impact it has, particularly on productivity and staff retention.

There are all sorts of examples of good employer practice. We have already heard about Centrica. The Phoenix Group offers two weeks of paid carer’s leave and recently added five days of unpaid leave. Some 6% of colleagues took up the offer, with an average rate of 2.64 days. We are not talking about an open cheque here. The employer said: “We have had extremely positive feedback from our colleagues and there have only been benefits to the business as a whole”. Paid carer’s leave would support workers of all ages, from young carers to adult carers and older workers. It would be a positive all-age and all-gender policy, but the reality is that women are more likely to be carers and at risk of working part-time with lower incomes in retirement, so paid carer’s leave is a positive equalities policy.

The final point I want to make is about what is happening internationally. There is a move to deliver more paid carer’s leave support, recognising ageing societies, a greater proportion of retired population to workers and the imperative for people to work for longer. Australia and Germany have 10 days of paid carer’s leave, and Germany has longer-term provisions as well. It is seen in those countries as an important strand of reducing economic inactivity, something we badly need to do here, as the Treasury quite rightly reminds us. With a shortage of social care and carers taking on more hours of care, there is a huge need to ensure that unpaid carers are supported to juggle work and caring responsibilities. It is not a “nice to have”; it is essential.

I will finish with the real-life example of Michelle White from the TSB, who was happy to have her name quoted. She said, “Paid carer’s leave provides a vital lifeline in my ability to care for my sister, often at short notice, and we would both struggle without it. This important measure allows me to provide support during an emergency. I can be there when it matters, with peace of mind that my career will not be jeopardised simply because I am a carer. I cannot speak highly enough about paid carer’s leave and the need for all carers to be supported in this way. Working for a business like TSB that recognises carers and offers this type of support is priceless”.

[Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for their contributions in this debate, in particular the noble Lord, Lord Palmer of Childs Hill, for his thoughtful introduction. These amendments raise an issue of deep humanity, that of kinship carers—family members, friends or relatives who step up, often at short notice and with immense personal sacrifice, to care for a child who cannot remain with their parents. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that kinship carers perform a vital role, and often without the financial or legal support that accompanies formal fostering or adoption. These proposals seek to address that gap through the creation of a statutory kinship care leave entitlement, mirroring in some respects existing entitlements such as maternity or adoption leave. It is a serious and thoughtful contribution to the long-standing challenge of how we support informal family networks caring for vulnerable children and this is a cause worthy of respect and policy consideration. However, although the underlying issue is important, we must also take account of practicality and timing. We have similar concerns to those expressed by others about the cumulative burdens placed on businesses by this Government, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises.

We are debating these amendments in a broader context in which the Government have already imposed or are proposing to impose a series of costly new obligations on employers. We were talking in the last group about day-one rights to statutory sick pay and compensated cancelled shifts with undefined notice periods, and now we are talking about potentially a new category of leave which may extend up to 52 weeks with full employment protections and return-to-work guarantees. Each of these measures in isolation may be defensible and even commendable, but taken together, they represent a heavy financial and administrative load, particularly for small businesses in the retail, hospitality and service sectors, many of which are still struggling in the wake of the pandemic with ongoing and increasing cost pressures. In the case of kinship care leave, the details are vague and defer to regulation, leaving employers in the dark about how it will work in practice. What counts as evidence of an eligible arrangement? Will the leave be paid and, if so, by whom? What safeguards exist to prevent abuse? These questions must be answered before we can impose another legal obligation on employers.

We also have to be honest about timing. The economic climate remains fragile. Many small businesses operate on margins of just a few per cent. For a family-run corner shop or a café with six staff, the unexpected loss of one employee for several months could be devastating, particularly if there is no clear mechanism for support or to backfill that position. We respect and admire the intent behind these amendments, but we must weigh them against the real-world pressures facing employers. This is not the right time to impose new, poorly defined and potentially costly statutory entitlements, especially without clarity on how they will be funded or implemented. We need to support kinship carers, but let us do so in a way that is targeted, workable and fair to employers as well as families.

On government Amendment 34, my noble friend Lady Coffey has raised some important questions and I am looking forward to the answers. Does this amendment cover just termination on grounds of foetal anomaly or for medical reasons? Or is the rest of the subject taken in by that rather catch-all phrase,

“pregnancy loss of a specified kind”?

Can the Minister give us some information as to what he thinks the meaning of “a specified kind” is?

Finally, I note that the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, has asked for details about the review, citing a paucity of information. Having been present throughout all these debates, I know that “paucity of information” is a recurring theme with regard to this Bill. I am also keen to hear what the Minister has to say in due course.

Carer’s Leave Regulations 2024

Baroness Tyler of Enfield Excerpts

Tuesday 6th February 2024 Grand Committee

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade and Scotland Office (Lord Offord of Garvel) (Con)]

My Lords, I was pleased to note the positive debates last year, when the Carer’s Leave Bill received cross-party support in both Houses. The Carer’s Leave Act, under which these regulations are being brought forward, obtained Royal Assent on 24 May 2023. The Carer’s Leave Regulations were laid on 11 December 2023. I should start by thanking Wendy Chamberlain MP and the noble Lord, Lord Fox, for their work in getting us to this stage. I want again to thank everyone who participated in relation to this significant matter in both Houses last year. I am delighted to be here today for this debate on these draft regulations.

I should also take this opportunity to flag a correction slip in relation to page 2 of the SI. Regulation 5(1), line 1 stated:

“is entitled one week”,

but now reads,

“is entitled to one week”.

The context of these regulations is to recognise the importance of unpaid carers. This Government appreciate the time dedicated by unpaid carers to help those dependants who rely on them for their everyday needs. These regulations will provide valuable additional flexibility to support all unpaid carers who are in employment across the country.

Statistics from the Family Resources Survey 2021-22 show that there are 4.9 million adult informal carers in the UK. Just over half of those are also holding down a job. Around 2.5 million people are trying to balance work with their caring responsibilities, which is a significant proportion of the workforce. We know that an additional leave right is important for them. A survey published by Carers UK in 2022 found that 75% of the unpaid carers who responded worry about continuing to juggle work and care, two-thirds have given up opportunities at work because of caring and a quarter said they needed better support to return to or maintain paid work, while a quarter said they need unpaid carer’s leave to do so.

In addition to the new entitlement to carer’s leave, it is also the case that having flexibility with start and finish times at work, or working from home where this is possible, can make it easier for carers to balance work and their caring needs. The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023, which also comes into force in April 2024, will increase the number of requests an employee can make in a 12-month period and reduce the time allowed to administer requests. Separate regulations, also expected to come into force in April 2024, will remove the continuity of service requirement for the right to request flexible working. Therefore, employees will be able to request flexible working arrangements from the first day of their employment. These changes will also support the ability of carers to remain in, and progress in, work.

I turn to the regulations, which will fulfil our 2019 manifesto commitment to introduce one week of leave for unpaid carers. I shall set out briefly what they do. The first key element is that the carer’s leave entitlement will be a day one right for employees, so it will be available from the first day of employment. It can be used for providing care or making arrangements for the provision of care for a dependant with a long-term care need. These definitions have purposefully been kept broad to encompass a range of different care needs and circumstances. Flexibility is key: no two care dependants have the same care needs—and the circumstances of the carer’s employment will be different, too.

Employed carers can take the leave flexibly, from half a day at a time up to a block of one week. This ensures that carers can use their carer’s leave in a proportionate way that suits their needs. For example, they could accompany their dependants to an appointment or visit a potential care home and get back to work on the same day. If necessary, they could care for their dependant for a whole week—for example, if they are recovering from a major medical procedure. These are just examples to illustrate how the leave may be used. In claiming the leave, there will be no evidential requirement to demonstrate how the leave will be used or who it is used for. The purpose of this approach is to remove undue stress for the employee, including any concerns that they may have about providing potentially sensitive information about a third party. It will also minimise the administrative burden for employers and reduce bureaucratic obstacles.

The regulations put in place a minimum notice period requirement, which is similar to the existing annual leave entitlement. This will mean that employed carers must give notice of twice the length of time being requested plus one day, subject to a three-day minimum notice period. Furthermore, the notice can be given in multiple forms, whether that is via email, verbally or through an existing application within the workplace. We also recognise that there may be circumstances in which granting the leave may be difficult for the employer, such as during a busy week for an urgent deadline. The regulations will give employers the power to postpone the leave, but they may not deny it completely. It will be down to the employer and employee to come to an alternative arrangement that works best for both parties. Lastly, employees taking carer’s leave will have the same employment protections associated with other forms of family-related leave, including protection from dismissal or detriment as a result of having taken the leave.

In conclusion, these measures will provide invaluable support to unpaid carers balancing work with their caring responsibilities. Employees and employers are set to benefit from this Act. Employees will receive an extra bit of flexibility. By providing that extra flexibility, employers will be able to retain valuable staff members who would otherwise have struggled to remain in work. The Government are very pleased to have supported the Private Member’s Bill and be delivering these regulations.

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD)]

My Lords, I rise briefly, primarily to say how delighted I am that this legislation will come into force on 6 April. As the Minister said, there was strong cross-party support for the Bill when it had its passage through the House. I thank those who were involved in drawing up the regulations, as they have done a good job of it. I have been involved in this area for some time now, and in previous attempts to get legislation of this type on the statute book that were not successful, and that is why I am delighted that this one was successful. However, I have not been involved for anywhere near as long as my noble friend—and I think of her very much as my noble friend—the noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley, who has tirelessly campaigned in this area for many decades.

This is landmark moment and one we should celebrate. For the very first time, those juggling paid work and unpaid care are going to have dedicated rights in the workplace. It will provide them with more flexibility, and it will make a very real difference to the quality of those carers’ lives. It has been estimated that at least 2 million people will be able to take advantage of the provisions in this legislation, which is going to provide real support to help people, particularly women, to stay in work. I emphasise that point, because we know that it is women who are more likely to be juggling work and care and are more likely to be in part-time than full-time work. Also, we know that women in their 50s are more likely to leave the labour market—more likely than men—to provide unpaid care for family members. I am hoping that this is something that will mean that fewer women will have to leave the labour market.

I have one question for the Minister. Thinking back to our previous debates, I think the provisions of this Act will also apply to parents who have children with a long-term disability. That is an important point. What sort of steps are the Government thinking of taking to make sure that those parents are aware that this applies to them and not only to carers of adults with disabilities or older relatives?

This is an incredibly important milestone. I hope that we can build on this important first step, which will benefit the labour market as well as individuals, so that in future we can move to having a paid leave provision.

Carer’s Leave Bill

Baroness Tyler of Enfield Excerpts

Friday 3rd March 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD)]

My Lords, we have had a very good debate on this important Private Member’s Bill, and I thank my noble friend Lord Fox for his excellent introduction. For me, the debate has underlined once again why carers’ lives can be so difficult, despite caring usually being undertaken out of love and deep familial bonds. As we have heard, caring unpaid for a family member, friend or neighbour is a reality for many millions of people across the UK and is something that almost everyone will experience at some point in their life. It can take many forms: it can be day-to-day physical caring, washing, dressing, feeding those who cannot care for themselves; it can be making medical appointments, accompanying people, arranging for paid care; it can be helping a housebound elderly neighbour.

But caring for a loved one can come at high personal costs. Many carers find that their own relationships are negatively affected, and they can face their own health problems as a result of their caring role. With the huge pressures and backlogs across the NHS, with the difficulty all too often of getting appointments with a GP or a hospital, and the record level of demand for social care services at a time when the social care workforce is depleted, many carers are simply not getting the support that they need.

That is essentially what this Bill is designed to address, albeit that we are only at the start of what I hope is a much longer journey. “A vital first step” is how it has been described today. But today’s debate has amply demonstrated how carer’s leave will make a difference to carers’ lives. We have already heard the latest estimates showing that over 7 million people in this country are juggling work and unpaid care, and every year more than 1.9 million people in paid employment become unpaid carers. This is not a sideshow; this is something affecting large segments of the population. We have today heard very movingly the stresses and strains of having to juggle paid work alongside unpaid care, without the support that is so often needed, and how it has left many carers exhausted and burned out.

Unfortunately, as we have heard, these pressures have led to hundreds of thousands of people having to drop out of the labour market or reduce their hours—at a time when their skills are much needed to the wider economy. We know and have heard that having a supportive employer and the ability to take time off work can help mitigate those pressures. Indeed, two-thirds of working carers who have already had access to unpaid carer’s leave through their own employer’s enlightened employment practices have told Carers UK that it really made their caring role easier. I spoke recently to some carers who were juggling working and caring, and I was very struck by what one lady said to me. She said, “I no longer have to hide the fact that I am a carer.” I can well remember feeling that I needed to hide my own personal caring responsibilities when I was in a full-time job, and I would have loved to feel that what I was trying to do was both above board and legitimate. I hope that this legislation will normalise and legitimise those struggling to do both.

I was also very pleased recently, along with my noble friend Lord Fox, to meet some leading employers in this field, large and small, to hear at first hand about their experiences of already providing carer’s leave and the positive impacts that doing so had on their businesses, particularly in terms of staff retention. For this to really work, it must have real benefits to employers and employees. That is the beauty of this Bill, which, by creating a new entitlement for employees to take up to a week of unpaid leave a year, will really help. Yes, it is modest—we all understand that—but it will provide increased flexibility to unpaid carers who are balancing paid employment with their caring responsibilities. I hope above all that, for many more of them, it will mean not having to make that invidious choice between caring and working.

In addition, the Bill will support carers with their finances, particularly in the longer term, and help with pensions. The noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley, reminded us of the number of carers who, because they have to give up their job altogether or reduce their working hours, become significantly worse off. This fall in income is often accompanied by a sharp increase in household costs as a result of the additional costs of ill health and disability. In the middle of a cost of living crisis, that is enough to tip many people over the edge.

Of course, everything comes with a cost, and we need to be up front about that. But I was struck last week when reading some research that suggested that UK companies can save up to £4.8 billion a year in unplanned absences and a further £3.4 billion in improved retention by adopting working practices to support employees with caring responsibilities. It might not be a strict comparison, but it is interesting to note that the impact assessment for the Bill says that the direct costs will be very small—only £4.7 million for one-off familiarisation costs for this new legislation, plus the recurring familiarisation costs. I call that quite a return.

I want to draw attention, as I have in the past, to the impact of unpaid caring on women and those caring for children with long-term disabilities. The Bill would particularly support women to stay in work, as they are more likely to be juggling work and care and more likely to be in part-time than full-time work. Carers UK research has shown that, while the average person has a 50:50 chance of caring by the age of 50, on average women can expect to take on caring responsibilities more than a decade earlier than men. Likewise, the Family Resources Survey shows that women aged 45 to 64 are most likely to be carers and more likely than men to provide informal care across all age groups, except for those aged 85 and over. It is welcome that the impact assessment produced for the Bill recognises:

“In the context of the gender pay gap, the fact that women are more likely to provide care means that they are more likely to face adverse employment effects associated with caring i.e., lower earnings and leaving the labour market.”


It is welcome that the Bill also provides much-needed support for those who are juggling work with caring for a child with a long-term disability. People in this situation often face extreme pressures and challenges, and it is right that they should be able to take advantage of the provisions in this Bill, building on the rights that they already have under unpaid parental leave.

Finally, it is instructive to see how other countries provide support to employees trying to juggle work and care. In preparing for this debate, I did a bit of research. The fact is that the UK currently lags behind other countries when it comes to workplace rights for carers. Many already have some form of carer’s leave in place—of course, it differs—including Japan, Canada, the USA, Germany, Ireland, France, Belgium and Sweden. So I think it is right that we are looking to close this gap. Indeed, there are some interesting and innovative approaches to family leave and carer’s leave adopted in other countries that we would do well to study—a point I know the Minister made in the previous debate.

To conclude, I am delighted that after many years of trying, we finally have an opportunity to ensure that carers are better supported to remain in work by providing them with additional rights at work to make their lives more flexible and manageable. It is a cause that I, like so many others in this Chamber, have long championed. I do not pretend to have anything like the pedigree of the noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley, to whom we all owe a huge debt of gratitude. However, as she mentioned, I have tried several times—most recently in 2016—to introduce a carer’s leave entitlement Bill. Sadly, as is the way of these things, it never received a Second Reading. So one of my messages today is to never give up hope. An opportunity may well come along, sometimes when you least expect it. I give huge thanks to my honourable friend Wendy Chamberlain, and of course to Carers UK for everything it has done. I very much hope that this time we can get these vital employment rights for carers on to the statute book, which is why I am giving my noble friend’s Bill my full support.