Oral Answers to Questions

Josh Newbury Excerpts

Thursday 12th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Russell (Congleton) (Lab)]

9. What recent progress he has made on improving parental rights at work.

[Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)]

22. What recent progress he has made on improving parental rights at work.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Kate Dearden)]

This Government are committed to strengthening rights for parents. In April, we are introducing bereaved partner’s paternity leave and making unpaid parental leave and paternity leave day one rights, bringing more than 1 million parents into scope. Next year, we will further improve protections for pregnant women and those returning from maternity leave, and the parental leave and pay review will conclude, giving us recommendations and informing our next steps.

--- Later in debate ---

[Kate Dearden]

I thank my hon. Friend for her advocacy on this issue. The Government acknowledge that the class 1 national insurance contributions threshold used to determine eligibility for small employers’ relief on statutory parental pay has remained unchanged for several years. Part of the relief is an additional compensation payment, known as small employers’ compensation. Last April, the Government increased the SEC rate from 3% to 8.5%, and we will increase it to 9% from 6 April 2026. The Government keep all eligibility criteria under review while balancing the needs of business and the Exchequer.

[Josh Newbury]

Many of us on the Labour Benches have long argued for a boost to paternity leave, which is one of the proudest achievements of the last Labour Government, but one group being let down badly is self-employed dads. Just one in six of them take leave after their children are born, and it is unpaid leave, meaning that they face a drop in income of more than £1,000 just for taking a couple of weeks off. Introducing paid paternity leave for self-employed dads would cost £38 million at most, and possibly as little as £13 million, but it would be a huge win for dads, mums and their babies. Will the Minister consider that as part of the ongoing parental leave review?

[Kate Dearden]

I thank my hon. Friend for his campaigning on this issue. As I have mentioned, the Government’s parental leave and pay review is under way and will conclude in early 2027. We know that the parental leave system needs to be improved and recognise that the current system does not do enough to support the many dads and partners who want to be hands-on and actively involved in caring for their children. That is why the review is so important. It will consider all current and upcoming parental leave and pay entitlements, looking at options to improve the support available to British working families and whether the support available meets the needs of working families who do not qualify for the entitlements, such as self-employed parents, as was outlined by my hon. Friend.