Kinship Carers: Statutory Paid Employment Leave

Ian Lavery Excerpts

Tuesday 20th October 2026 Westminster Hall

[Melanie Onn]

I was not aware that the Education Committee did that inquiry. It goes very well with an inquiry that the APPG on kinship care did recently on the SEND needs of children in kinship care. Across Parliament, Members who have connections with kinship care communities recognise that children often arrive with additional needs, and that families often have no experience of managing or dealing with that. If a person in work, regardless of what their job is, is suddenly expected to provide for the needs of a child—it could be a physical need, or a mental, emotional or cognitive need—they have to figure it out, and in this day and age we should not expect them to take unpaid leave to navigate their way through that. They are stepping forward to provide safety and stability—the same level of care that we expect foster carers to provide. If the state provides foster care for a child in need, we make available all the necessary support, including the right to paid leave, but kinship carers are not currently entitled to that.

[Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is a tremendous advocate for kinship carers up and down this country. On more than one occasion, she has mentioned the circumstances that ordinary people find themselves in when faced with relations, close friends or potentially their own kids going into care. It is very emotional.

Lots of people who accept kinship carers, such as Linda Watson in my constituency, feel the need to ensure that their children are not taken into care. They need to give them the best possible start in life, or the best way in life, at whatever age they are. A lot of kinship carers believe that a pat on the back, a rub on the back of the neck, a pat on the head and a big thank you are not enough. They need financial support so that they can give these kids, who are already in a difficult position with their family life and all the rest of it, a good start in life. In order to do that, kinship carers need the right support; they need adequate financial support.

[Melanie Onn]

I thank my hon. Friend for his powerful contribution. To build on that, eight in 10 kinship carers who leave their work never return to paid employment. This is not just a short-term problem; it can lead to lifelong issues.

The Government have pledged to ensure that people are in work for the long term, and they are setting an example of what work means, but providing sufficient flexibility in our employment law is the right way to go to ensure that these families can be self-sufficient while providing support and love for the child. They should be able to earn a living without being penalised. My constituent Lucy was in the same position as the constituent of the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson): she had to take a mix of sick leave and compassionate leave, which her employer very kindly jumbled together. She said, “Why should my kids be disadvantaged because the system doesn’t recognise them and doesn’t really work for them?”