Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will implement equal parental leave rights between (a) biological, (b) adoption and (c) kinship parents.
Answered by Justin Madders
The Government has launched a comprehensive review of the parental leave and pay system to ensure it is fairer and easier to use for all types of families.
All current and upcoming parental leave and pay entitlements are in scope of the review, including Maternity, Paternity and Adoption. It will also consider the needs of other working families who do not qualify for existing leave and pay entitlements, such as kinship carers.
The Government will conclude the review with a set of findings and a roadmap, including next steps for taking any potential reforms forward to implementation.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many times has their Department accepted in full the position of the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s (a) findings and (b) recommendations on (i) issuing an apology and (ii) other forms of redress in the last 10 years.
Answered by Justin Madders
Since the establishment of DBT in 2023 there have been 0 (zero) ombudsmen decisions for DBT. For this reason there has been 0 (zero) times the Department accepted in full the position of the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s (a) findings and (b) recommendations on (i) issuing an apology and (ii) other forms of redress in the last 10 years.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will provide an update on the proposed timeframe of the parental leave review.
Answered by Justin Madders
The Government will set out more details on the timelines of Parental Leave Review before the summer.
The review will take a comprehensive look at the parental leave and pay system. It will consider the current framework of parental leave entitlements and how they should operate as a system to improve the support available for working families.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether kinship carers will be included within the scope of the parental leave review.
Answered by Justin Madders
I recognise the vital role that Kinship Carers play in caring for vulnerable children, and the need to support Kinship Carers in the workplace.
As part of our broader commitment to working families, we are conducting a comprehensive review of the parental leave system. Planning work is underway.
The Employment Rights Bill is also making Parental Leave a day one right. This will help kinship carers who have parental responsibility, for example, through a legal guardianship order.