Oral Answers to Questions

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Thursday 14th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)]

12. What steps the Government are taking to increase the uptake of shared parental leave.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

13. What recent estimate she has made of the uptake of shared parental leave.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Kelly Tolhurst)]

In 2018, we ran a successful £1.5 million campaign to promote awareness and take-up of shared parental leave. Last month, we launched a further campaign to maintain the high level of awareness achieved. We are currently evaluating the scheme, looking at take-up and the barriers to take-up, and we expect to publish the findings later this year.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I call Victoria Prentis—not here.

[Patrick Grady]

Will the Minister give a timescale for the extension of shared parental leave to the self-employed?

[Kelly Tolhurst]

I would point out to the hon. Gentleman that, as I outlined in my last response, we are currently evaluating the scheme, which we are committed to delivering, as I have already said. However, in relation to self-employed people, I must point out that one of the benefits of implementing shared parental leave in the first place is that some people who are employed do not have the flexibility of the self-employed. Obviously, we are not ruling anything out, and we will continue to keep our policies under review. As I say, we will respond on the outcomes of our evaluation later on.