Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve screening for prostate cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended by the UK National Screening Committees (UK NSC). This is because of the inaccuracy of the current best test, the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). A PSA-based screening programme could harm men, as some of them would be diagnosed with a cancer that would not have caused them problems during their life. This would lead to additional tests and treatments which can also have harmful side effects; for example, incontinence of faeces and urine and impotence.
The UK NSC is undertaking an evidence review for prostate cancer screening and plans to report within the UK NSC’s three-year work plan.
The evidence review includes modelling the clinical cost effectiveness of several approaches to prostate cancer screening; this includes different potential ways of screening the whole population from 40 years of age onwards and targeted screening aimed at groups of people identified as being at higher-than-average risk, such as black men or men with a family history of cancer.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in his Department was in each of the last three years.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The HR reporting system used by the Northern Ireland Office does not provide paternity leave information in the form requested.
The paternity leave policy followed is set out here.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in his Department was in each of the last three years.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The average length of paternity leave in days taken by staff in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) was 9.6 during 2023 and 9.8 during 2024.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) was established in February 2023. Data before this time is unavailable.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in (a) her Department, (b) HM Courts and Tribunals Service and (c) HM Prison and Probation Service was in each of the last three years.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The average length of paternity leave taken across the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for each of the last three years is 14 calendar days. The breakdown as per the request is as follows:
Average number of days of paternity leave taken by staff in MoJ, HMCTS and HMPPS
| MoJ | HMCTS | HMPPS |
01/07/2021 to 30/06/2022 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
01/07/2022 to 30/06/2023 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
01/07/2023 to 30/06/2024 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
Note: This includes those with an Absence Category of ‘Paternity Birth’ on the department’s HR database.
Note: Records assigned to the relevant year by the Absence Start Date.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in (a) her Department and (b) HMRC was in each of the last three years.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMT Response
HM Treasury offers two-weeks’ paternity leave with pay for staff who meet the qualifying conditions. Staff can choose to take the two weeks together or in separate blocks of one week each.
The information below covers the average length of paternity leave in calendar days for the past three financial years in HM Treasury:
Financial years: | Average length of paternity leave: |
1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022 | 12.78 |
1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023 | 13.16 |
1 April 2023 – 31 March 2024 | 12.35 |
HMRC Response
Financial year April-23 to March-24: The average number of calendar days taken for paternity leave per person is 27.79 days.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in (a) his Department and (b) the armed forces was in each of the last three years.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Our records show that between 2021 and October 2024, Ministry of Defence employees have taken paternity leave for the birth or adoption of a child.
The average working days taken (AWDT) for civilian and military personnel is shown in the tables below.
Calendar Year | AWDT Civilian Personnel |
2021 | 13.3 |
2022 | 12.7 |
2023 | 12.9 |
2024 Jan-Oct | 12.5 |
Data covers the entire civilian workforce (includes DE&S and SDA)
Data includes Paternity Leave, Paternity Leave Birth and Paternity Leave Adoption
Calendar Year | AWDT Military Personnel |
2021 | 13.6 |
2022 | 13.7 |
2023 | 13.6 |
2024 Jan-Oct | 13.7 |
Data includes Paternity Leave, Paternity Leave Birth and Paternity Leave Adoption
- including any unpaid and deferred elements
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in her Department was in each of the last three years; and what information she holds on the the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in local authorities in the same period.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Our records show that between 2021 and October 2024, 100 (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) employees have taken paternity leave for the birth or adoption of a child. The average working days taken (AWDT) is shown in the table below.
Calendar Year | AWDT |
2021 | 10 |
2022 | 11 |
2023 | 12 |
2024 (Jan to Oct) | 10 |
Staff employed in local authorities are subject to the pay terms and conditions for those organisations. This department does not keep a central record on employment data relating to these organisations.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in her Department was in each of the last three years; and whether she holds similar data for police forces in England and Wales.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office policy is named 'maternity and adoption support leave' in recognition of the fact that the secondary parent or, in the case of adoption, the secondary adopter, is not necessarily a man. The average length of maternity and adoption support for last three financial years is outlined below.
Year | Average length of Maternity and Adoption support |
2021-22 | 14 |
2022-23 | 14 |
2023-24 | 14 |
The Home Office does not collect centrally information on the average length of paternity leave taken by those working within the police service.