Employment Rights Bill

Baroness Pitkeathley Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 13th May 2025 Lords Chamber

How is that review progressing, and will it take account of the changed situation since yesterday?

[Baroness Pitkeathley (Lab)]

My Lords, I support Amendments 135 and 144, which relate to unpaid carers. It is always a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, who is always so sound on carers’ issues. I declare an interest as vice-president of Carers UK.

Amendments 135 and 144 would provide employees with a statutory right to paid carer’s leave and require employers with over 250 employees to consider what support unpaid carers are given within their workforce when publishing action plans on gender equality. Both seem to be entirely sensible, and I am pleased they have received cross-party support. As noble Lords will know, I have long campaigned for greater employment rights for those juggling paid work with their unpaid caring responsibilities. This Bill is very welcome and includes many provisions which have a positive impact on working carers.

Millions of people are now doing this juggling act of paid work with their unpaid caring responsibilities, but this juggling act is very difficult to maintain. Despite pockets of good practice, a lack of support and understanding from many employers—and too few rights in the workplace—too often leaves carers with no choice but to give up work or turn to part time or insecure work. It is estimated that 600 people per day quit work to provide unpaid care, with real and lasting consequences for them and their families. That is not only bad for them but bad for their employers and the economy. As recently as March, the Government provided a new estimate of the cost to the economy of carers being unable to work, which the noble Lord, Lord Young, quoted. It was a staggering £37 billion a year—a huge figure.

We have made good progress in recent years. Indeed, the entitlement to a week of unpaid carer’s leave was secured, as we have heard, through the Carer’s Leave Act 2023, and it was a positive step in the right direction. However, it was always intended to be just that—we said this endlessly during the passage of that Act, as some noble Lords will remember—as it was a first step to be built on. I welcome that the Government have committed to review the implementation of the current right to unpaid carer’s leave under the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 and to consider whether there is a need for paid carer’s leave. However, I urge the Government to go further and faster to seize the opportunity in front of them. It is clear to me that we should be doing everything we can to ensure that all carers who are able and wish to work are able to do so. Surely this is part of what the Government are trying to do in other areas—encourage people back into the workforce.

Carers UK’s evidence shows that 80% of carers say that additional paid carer’s leave of between five and 10 days would better help them to juggle work and unpaid care, and 50% of carers would find it easier to return to work after a period of absence if they had access to paid carer’s leave. Almost half of those who have given up work or retired early—many people take early retirement specifically to take up caring responsibilities—said that paid carer’s leave would have helped them to stay in employment for longer had it been available at the time.

The modelling that Carers UK has undertaken based on existing employer practice estimates it would cost the Government between £5.5 million and £32 million annually to introduce paid carer’s leave, depending on the rate of compensation employees receive. I know that is a large figure, but it is in fact a small price to pay compared with the huge contribution made to our economy by carers.

Amendment 144, relating to equality action plans, is necessary due to the gendered nature of caring. At the heavy end of caring, women are still much more involved than men, and this impacts specifically on women’s employment. I understand and welcome that Ministers have been engaging with organisations such as Carers UK, as well as carer-friendly employers, over the last year. I am sure they will have heard much about the positive impacts that organisations such as TSB, Centrica and Phoenix Group can have on their employees by promoting best practice. However, that support should not be the preserve of employees who just happen to work for enlightened employers.

I agree with the Government that this Bill is pro-business and pro-worker. These amendments are too, and that is why I hope they will be supported by the Government.

[Lord Hogan-Howe (CB)]

My Lords, I support Amendment 134 from the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson. She has highlighted that there is a glaring gap in our welfare system. It fails to provide adequate, immediate support for parents whose children fall seriously ill. Although the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act rightly recognised the need for non-means tested leave and pay when a child is critically ill at or shortly after birth, that protection vanishes as the child grows older. Parents whose children fall seriously ill beyond the neonatal period are left navigating benefits that are not suited to the immediate support they require.

Currently, there are only three options available for parents seeking that financial support. The first is universal credit, which is means tested and not easily accessible. The second, disability living allowance, was mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson. It can only be applied for three months after a diagnosis and then takes an additional 20 weeks—approaching half a year altogether—to process. DLA is also a requirement for claiming a blue badge—just to give an example of how long this process takes. The third option is 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave taken in four-week blocks within a calendar year.

So, there is a gap from day one to day 90 before a parent can apply for financial help. In these cases, it appears families face an impossible choice—financial insecurity or being at their child’s side during the most traumatic moment of their young lives. This amendment addresses that gap, providing a grant to the parents of a chronically sick child from day one. The grant will be limited to the first one to three months, and approved quickly by the consultant, with a renewal every month.

According to data from the Treasury, there are approximately 4,000 children each year who could be expected to have a hospital stay of two months or more. The cost of caring for a chronically ill child is estimated to be around £750 per month. According to estimates by the charity It’s Never You, if the Government were to provide two months of support during this gap period, it would cost around £6 million—a significant amount, but at the lower end of national spending in revenue terms compared with many of the options talked about today.

This amendment seeks to extend the principles of the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act to children up to the age of 16 in cases of serious illness. It builds on a clear precedent and introduces a compassionate, practical solution—non-means tested support—at that moment of crisis.

The impact on employers will be minimal, affecting, as I have stated, only a few thousand families a year. But the benefit to those families would be profound. This is precisely the kind of change where legislation can make a life-changing difference at very little cost. I urge the Government to consider this amendment, which is in keeping with the spirit of this legislation.