"Does the Minister recognise that the lack of proper pay is the number one reason for a lack of take-up of existing rights? Will she confirm whether the new day one right to paternity leave is for paid or unpaid leave?..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"My Lords, why do the Government need another review to tell us what is obvious: that excluding nearly one in four fathers from our system of paternity pay is unfair and needs fixing? Becoming a new father can be stressful and expensive, as well as wonderful and joyous. But if …..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"My Lords, following the noble Baroness, Lady O’Grady, I too want to focus on the theme from yesterday’s gracious Speech as being one of security—defence security, energy security and economic security. I will resist the temptation to make a joke about job security, particularly as I believe the Health Secretary …..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"My Lords, I, too, welcome the Bill. I do not think it is acceptable that we ask Ministers to do their work unpaid, a burden that has fallen disproportionately on Members of this House. As we have heard, former Leaders on these Benches have worked hard to change that, but, …..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"My Lords, a key part of this mission is focused on the first 1,001 critical days of a child’s life. Evidence shows that having a father involved at this time supports the child’s future social and emotional development, as well as their future academic outcomes. Our current system of parental …..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"My Lords, I will speak in support of Amendment 218A. Before I do so, on Amendment 212, the noble Lord, Lord Sharkey, made a valiant attempt to square the circle of opposing some forms of mandation while supporting others, but it did not quite get me over the line. So …..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"My Lords, I will speak briefly in support of Amendments 112, 114 and 117 in the names of my noble friends Lady Coffey and Lady McIntosh of Pickering, which aim to set a cap on asset allocation.
In response to our debate on the previous group, the Minister consistently described …..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"My Lords, my noble friend Lord Younger has asked many of the questions that my Amendments 116A and 130A seek to probe on the rationale for the Government’s timescales in the Bill. They are also intended to shorten those timescales and implement an absolute sunset; I want to be clear …..." Baroness Penn - View Speech
"My Lords, I will speak to my Amendment 91, in my name and the names of the noble Lords, Lord Storey and Lord Knight, and the noble Baroness, Lady Cass, and Amendment 106, also supported by the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron.