Employment Rights Bill

Lord Palmer of Childs Hill Excerpts

Report stage
Monday 14th July 2025 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Palmer of Childs Hill]

31: After Clause 17, insert the following new Clause—
“Kinship care leave(1) The Employment Rights Act 1996 is amended as follows.(2) After section 80EI insert—“Chapter 5AKinship care leave80EJ Kinship care leave(1) The Secretary of State must make regulations entitling an employee to be absent from work on leave under this section if the employee satisfies conditions specified in the regulations as to an eligible kinship care arrangement with a child.(2) The regulations must include provision for determining—(a) the extent of an employee’s entitlement to leave under this section in respect of a child;(b) when leave under this section may be taken. (3) Provision under subsection (2)(a) must secure that—(a) where only one employee is entitled to leave under this section in respect of a given child, the employee is entitled to at least 52 weeks’ leave;(b) where more than one employee is entitled to leave under this section in respect of the same child, those employees are entitled to share at least 52 weeks’ leave between them.(4) An employee is entitled to leave under this section only if the eligible kinship care arrangement is intended to last—(a) at least one year, and(b) until the child being cared for attains the age of 18.(5) For the purposes of this Chapter, “eligible kinship care arrangement” means—(a) special guardianship,(b) a kinship child arrangement,(c) a private fostering arrangement, or(d) a private family arrangement,within the meaning given by section (Meaning of “kinship care”) of the Employment Rights Act 2025.(6) The regulations may make provision about how leave under this section is to be taken.(7) In this section—(a) “special guardianship”, “kinship child arrangement”, “private fostering arrangement” and “private family arrangement” have the same meanings as in section (Meaning of “kinship care”) of the Employment Rights Act 2025.(b) “week” means any period of seven days.80EK Rights during and after kinship care leave(1) Regulations under section 80EJ must provide—(a) that an employee who is absent on leave under that section is entitled, for such purposes and to such extent as the regulations may prescribe, to the benefit of the terms and conditions of employment which would have applied but for the absence,(b) that an employee who is absent on leave under that section is bound, for such purposes and to such extent as the regulations may prescribe, by obligations arising under those terms and conditions (except in so far as they are inconsistent with subsection (1) of that section), and(c) that an employee who is absent on leave under that section is entitled to return from leave to a job of a kind prescribed by regulations, subject to section 80EL.(2) The reference in subsection (1)(c) to absence on leave under section 80EJ includes, where appropriate, a reference to a continuous period of absence attributable partly to leave under that section and partly to any one or more of the following—(a) maternity leave;(b) paternity leave;(c) adoption leave;(d) shared parental leave;(e) parental leave;(f) parental bereavement leave.(3) In subsection (1)(a), “terms and conditions of employment”—(a) includes matters connected with an employee’s employment whether or not they arise under the contract of employment, but(b) does not include terms and conditions about remuneration. (4) Regulations under section 80EJ may specify matters which are, or are not, to be treated as remuneration for the purposes of this section.(5) Regulations under section 80EJ may make provision, in relation to the right to return mentioned in subsection (1)(c), about—(a) seniority, pension rights and similar rights;(b) terms and conditions of employment on return.80EL Special cases(1) Regulations under section 80EJ may make provision about—(a) redundancy during or after a period of leave under that section, or(b) dismissal (other than by reason of redundancy) during a period of leave under that section.(2) Provision by virtue of subsection (1) may include—(a) provision requiring an employer to offer alternative employment;(b) provision for the consequences of failure to comply with the regulations (which may include provision for a dismissal to be treated as unfair for the purposes of Part 10).80EM Chapter 5A: supplemental(1) Regulations under section 80EJ may—(a) make provision about notices to be given, evidence to be produced and other procedures to be followed by employees and employers;(b) make provision requiring employers or employees to keep records;(c) make provision for the consequences of failure to give notices, to produce evidence, to keep records or to comply with other procedural requirements;(d) make provision for the consequences of failure to act in accordance with a notice given by virtue of paragraph (a);(e) make special provision for cases where an employee has a right which corresponds to a right under section 80EJ and which arises under the person’s contract of employment or otherwise;(f) make provision modifying the effect of Chapter 2 of Part 14 (calculation of a week’s pay) in relation to an employee who is or has been absent from work on leave under section 80EJ;(g) make provision applying, modifying or excluding an enactment, in such circumstances as may be specified and subject to any conditions which may be specified, in relation to a person entitled to take leave under section 80EJ;(h) make different provision for different cases or circumstances;(i) make consequential provision.(2) The cases or circumstances mentioned in subsection (1)(h) include—(a) more than one child being subject to the same eligible kinship care arrangement, and(b) a child being subject to an eligible kinship care arrangement on two or more separate occasions,and regulations may, in particular, make special provision regarding the applicability and extent of the entitlement to leave in such circumstances.(3) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for some or all of a period of kinship care leave to be paid.””Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment inserts provision which sets out an entitlement to kinship care leave.

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[Lord Palmer of Childs Hill (LD)]

My Lords, Amendments 31 and 32 in my name relate to the often-ignored subject of kinship care. The amendments seek to introduce—at last—kinship care leave as a paid entitlement and to establish a legal definition of kinship care, which is something many people do not even think about. It is time to address the current lack of formal employment rights and protections for kinship carers.

It is long overdue that we legally recognise and reward the grandparents, aunts, uncles and other relatives who step in as carers. More than 130,000 children in the UK are in kinship care, which is, amazingly, three times the number who are in foster care. When family crises occur—and they do occur—it is often kinship carers who step up to the plate, preventing children from being swept up into the formal care system.

Amendments 31 and 32 would allow families breathing space in order to adjust and, most importantly, support the well-being of the child. Support of kinship care is cost effective, as it reduces pressure on an overtasked care system. It is time to be compassionate for everyone’s long-term benefits—and I may well ask your Lordships to vote on this at the end of the group.

The Government’s Amendment 34 extends bereavement leave to include pregnancy loss. I commend this amendment to the House.

We are not debating or voting on Amendment 97 now, because it has been degrouped. It is in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, and gives a statutory right to paid leave for working parents who are forced to stop working to care for a critically ill child over 28 days old. This is described as Hugh’s law, after one who suffered in this way. I commend this amendment, which we will get to when we get to its degrouped place; it was originally in this group.

The other amendment in my name, Amendment 104, is on statutory carer’s leave. We owe a great deal to unpaid carers, who are the backbone of our society. Their support is worth a staggering £184 billion a year to older, ill or disabled relatives or friends—support without which society would collapse. The reality, however, is that this comes at a cost to them. Around 600 people a day give up work to care, and 1.2 million face poverty and financial hardship. Research shows that the majority do not have a choice about caring, because there are no care alternatives available. Employers are losing skilled labour every day because of caring, at a cost to their productivity. For some small employers, which we have spent a lot of time talking about, losing skilled workers can have an even bigger impact.

This amendment in my name would provide for the Government to publish regulations that would recompense employers, particularly small employers. There is insufficient social care and health services to plug the gap. Supporting carers to stay in employment is cost effective, and many carers have told Carers UK that they want to stay in work. Polling carried out by Carers UK found that 88% of unpaid carers of working age said that they needed paid carer’s leave.

The amendment that we brought forward in Committee has been refined, I hope for the better, having received comments from the Minister that the original drafting would have been different to that for other entitlements. We have therefore aligned the entitlements to pay for statutory carer’s leave with other similar statutory entitlements. This is very modest and yet would reflect a critical step forward for unpaid carers. The modest entitlement would normally be up to only five days of paid leave. It is described as a week, and a week is—amazingly—described as up to five days. This is how it is set out in the Carer’s Leave Act.

The Government could set the rate of statutory pay. The cost of statutory carer’s leave, based on estimates from Carers UK, is between £5 million and £32 million per annum. That is based on actual take-up rates of carer’s leave with employers. Centrica has two weeks of paid carer’s leave at full pay, with a further two weeks of matched leave. The Carers UK report says that just 3.4 days, on average, are taken by employees as carer’s leave. The Government’s estimate of the cost of carers’ inability to work is £37 billion. The personal cost is even greater if carers have to give up work, as they do, in order to care.

In advance of the Bill, Carers UK has been talking to carers about what paid carer’s leave would mean. One carer, who is a bus driver, has not had a holiday in seven years because of caring. He takes annual leave first, because it is paid, then unpaid leave if he has to. Work is extremely important to him, as he said that it “keeps him going” but that it is hard caring for two people without a break. He has been to his council, but does not get much support. He is still waiting, because the more trained care workers who his son needs are not available.

Another carer, who works in the NHS, is struggling to work and care, but she does not have paid carer’s leave. This leaves her burned out and exhausted, and she has to take her annual leave. We cannot afford to lose valuable NHS staff as a result of providing unpaid care. Paid carer’s leave is vital for those who cannot afford to take unpaid leave. What hope can the Government give to people like this who juggle every day and who need support such as paid carer’s leave, so that they can keep caring and working?

Will the Government go one step further and commit to building on the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 in introducing paid carer’s leave? Given that a parental leave review has been published for consultation and engagement, can the Minister tell the House what the Government’s message to unpaid carers and the review of carer’s leave are? Will the objectives, timetable, report and engagement be published? Carers are a valuable resource, but they are not appreciated. It is time that we in this House started appreciating them. I beg to move.

[Baroness Coffey (Con)]

My Lords, I speak to the two amendments that I have tabled. The loss of any foetus or potential child is a massive grief, and I entirely understand why this provision has been brought forward. My right honourable friend Jeremy Hunt commissioned the independent review into pregnancy loss several years ago, and a variety of actions have taken place, particularly in thinking of people with miscarriages. By law, a stillbirth is anything from 24 weeks onwards, but being able to register a birth such that, in effect, people who lose their foetus after 24 weeks can have a birth certificate in the same way was a good thing to do.

I am speaking today to try to get clarity on what the Government are proposing. If the Bill specifically mentioned miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy or molar pregnancy, I would not be speaking, although I would still want to get some understanding through Amendment 35. Perhaps I will start with that first.

I would be very grateful if the Minister could explain the new Section 80EA(3A)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, to be inserted by Amendment 34. It says that a person is bereaved if

“the employee satisfies specified conditions as to relationship with … a person who has suffered a pregnancy loss … or … a child who had been expected to be born had a pregnancy loss of a specified kind not occurred”.

It would be useful to understand why it is not being put in the Bill who it is expected that this will extend to—I do not know whether it is the father, a donor, a sibling, a grandmother, a grandfather and so on. I completely understand why, at such a difficult moment, we might want to extend bereavement leave, and not just for the mother, but it would be useful to get a further sense of that from the Government.

The main reason I am speaking today is my Amendment 41. It is an amendment to Amendment 40, which inserts a new paragraph into Clause 18 that defines “pregnancy loss” as

“the ending of a pregnancy after less than twenty-four weeks of pregnancy in any way other than a live birth, or (b) the failure of an embryo to become implanted following a transfer carried out in the course of providing treatment services within the meaning of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990”.

I am conscious that these recommendations were made by a Women and Equalities Select Committee report, but I want to understand what is in the Government’s mind today. It is quite a moment to choose to, in effect, use the Employment Rights Bill to define what a pregnancy is, particularly with regard to IVF. I know many people who have been through IVF, who of course have disappointment if it does not work that month or that year, and will try again. The fact that roughly 30% of IVF treatments are successful—I have shared those statistics previously—leaves a whole range of situations where a transplant has not happened. As I said, I am somewhat concerned at what is almost the redefinition of “pregnancy” when we are considering the body of a woman.

Furthermore, when it comes to

“the ending of a pregnancy … in any way other than by a live birth”,

the latest statistics published by the Department of Health and Social Care stated that there were around 250,000 abortions in this country in 2022. That was up 17% from the year before. Meanwhile, although I can entirely understand aspects of foetal anomaly or risks to the health of the mother, according to Department of Health and Social Care statistics that were published and referenced in the Commons Select Committee report, there were around 3,300 abortions for those reasons. There is a very significant difference between 3,300 and 250,000 but, as it stands, anyone who had a legal abortion will be counted in that statistic. I am not aware that the Department of Health and Social Care has yet decided how it will count in its statistics the number of abortions from pills through the post. At the moment, it does not even count the number of pills issued.

I am trying to get clarity from the Government. Is it really their intention that a person who has an abortion—up to 250,000 people a year—will be entitled to bereavement leave? That is what this primary legislation is saying.

On other issues in the Bill, all sorts of things are put into Henry VIII powers or regulations or other conditions. I seek to understand why the Government feel that this should be in the Bill. Obviously, every loss undoubtedly brings horrific grief. I know that, having had had to care for people in that situation and similar, and I understand why this is going ahead. Despite the potential for sickness leave being open, I recognise that under the Equality Act any discrimination would be against the law. I understand the steps the Government are taking, but I would be grateful for a genuine and huge level of detail on what they are setting out today in primary legislation. I commend my amendments to the House.

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[Lord Leong (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for that. I did say that the review will look at that, and hopefully it will cover what noble Lords are asking for. I will be moving Amendments 33, 34 and 36 to 40 shortly.

[Lord Palmer of Childs Hill (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister and the Government Benches, particularly for the kind and very true words about the activities of Sir Ed Davey in highlighting carers’ value to society. I thank my noble friend Lady Tyler, who explained—better than I did—about kinship carers and paid carer’s leave. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, for asking for clarity from the Government because I do not think there is clarity. As usual, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, for stressing that we need the principles of carer’s leave and being very practical and asking for the terms of reference, which I think are not clear.

The noble Lord, Lord Sharpe, focused on the cost of these amendments. On paid carer’s leave, the amendment provides for employers to pay, but then they can be recompensed via HMRC by the Government. It would be a cost to the Government in the end, but it could lead to a happier workforce and people can gain more from it.

When we talk about kinship care or paid carer’s leave, it is not in isolation. The NHS is under considerable stress. If you do not have the input of carers, and give them some recompense for that care, the NHS will collapse even more than it is collapsing now. This is not just something that is being generous. It is practical to make the NHS better, make caring better and make the work of grandparents, uncles, aunts and others appreciated in some way. I thank the Minister for saying that there is a review and things will change. I hope this debate will focus the Government’s mind on it. On that basis, I wish to test the feelings of the House.