Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2025 to Question 45981 on Parental Leave, what the breakdown in the Other/Unknown category is between (a) the Channel Islands, (b) the Isle of Man and (c) unknown for the average length of (i) Statutory Paternity Leave, (ii) Shared Parental Leave and (iii) Statutory Maternity Leave claimed in each of the last five years.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade do not hold this information. Information in relation to statutory parental payments are based on HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) system, HMRC do not provide further breakdown of regional information as it risks disclosing individual taxpayer information.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to promote the UK business event sector.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Government recognises that the business events sector is a machine for economic growth, local prosperity and international importance, helping to enhance the UK's global reputation and foster international business relationships.
The Business Events Growth Programme (BEGP) supported across government, including by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) , and led by VisitBritain, forms part of the UK Government's commitment to grow the business events sector across Britain. Every pound invested in the programme supported £33 of revenue being generated for the British economy through new events secured, or in additional delegate spend, during the five-year review period from 2018 to 2023.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the cost to the public purse was of (a) Statutory Paternity Leave, (b) Shared Parental Leave and (c) Statutory Maternity Leave in each region in each of the last five years.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Information provided by employers to HMRC shows that the total value of payments made to individuals in receipt of Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay and Statutory Maternity Pay between 2019/20 and 2023/24 (the latest year for which full year data is available).
The table below presents a breakdown of the value of payments made to individuals by the region (based on recipient residence).
Table 1. Total value of Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), Statutory Shared Parental Pay (SShPP) and Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) payments by claimant resident region, 2019/20 to 2023/24
Statutory Parental Payment | Government Office Region | 2019/20 (£ millions) | 2020/21 (£ millions) | 2021/22 (£ millions) | 2022/23 (£ millions) | 2023/24 (£ millions) |
Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) | East Midlands | £4.3 | £3.7 | £4.3 | £4.1 | £4.8 |
East of England | £5.2 | £4.5 | £5.3 | £5.3 | £6.1 | |
London | £8.1 | £7.4 | £8.5 | £8.0 | £9.6 | |
North East | £2.0 | £1.7 | £2.0 | £2.1 | £2.4 | |
North West | £6.5 | £5.5 | £6.4 | £6.4 | £7.3 | |
Northern Ireland | £2.0 | £1.6 | £1.9 | £1.9 | £2.2 | |
Scotland | £4.4 | £3.7 | £4.5 | £4.2 | £5.0 | |
South East | £7.3 | £6.5 | £7.7 | £7.5 | £8.7 | |
South West | £4.7 | £4.0 | £4.8 | £4.7 | £5.3 | |
Wales | £2.6 | £2.2 | £2.5 | £2.5 | £2.9 | |
West Midlands | £5.3 | £4.4 | £5.1 | £5.1 | £5.9 | |
Yorkshire and The Humber | £4.9 | £4.1 | £4.8 | £4.7 | £5.4 | |
Other / Unknown | £0.6 | £0.8 | £1.6 | £2.2 | £3.5 | |
Total | £57.9 | £50.2 | £59.3 | £58.9 | £69.0 | |
Statutory Shared Parental Pay (SShPP) | East Midlands | £1.1 | £1.2 | £1.4 | £1.4 | £2.0 |
East of England | £2.3 | £1.7 | £2.0 | £2.2 | £3.0 | |
London | £6.9 | £4.9 | £5.4 | £5.4 | £6.2 | |
North East | £0.5 | £0.5 | £0.6 | £0.6 | £1.1 | |
North West | £1.7 | £1.5 | £1.9 | £2.1 | £3.1 | |
Northern Ireland | £0.3 | £0.3 | £0.3 | £0.3 | £0.7 | |
Scotland | £1.2 | £1.1 | £1.3 | £1.3 | £1.5 | |
South East | £3.3 | £2.9 | £3.7 | £4.0 | £5.6 | |
South West | £1.8 | £2.1 | £2.4 | £3.0 | £3.8 | |
Wales | £0.7 | £0.6 | £0.8 | £0.9 | £1.2 | |
West Midlands | £1.2 | £1.1 | £1.4 | £1.6 | £2.0 | |
Yorkshire and The Humber | £1.4 | £1.4 | £1.4 | £1.8 | £2.5 | |
Other / Unknown | £0.3 | £0.4 | £0.6 | £1.0 | £1.8 | |
Total | £22.6 | £19.5 | £23.2 | £25.6 | £34.4 | |
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) | East Midlands | £185.9 | £181.2 | £189.5 | £188.8 | £203.0 |
East of England | £275.5 | £269.8 | £285.9 | £286.6 | £307.8 | |
London | £530.1 | £523.5 | £554.2 | £544.8 | £590.6 | |
North East | £92.9 | £89.7 | £93.3 | £93.1 | £102.1 | |
North West | £295.3 | £286.6 | £303.4 | £304.4 | £326.2 | |
Northern Ireland | £91.5 | £90.8 | £94.2 | £91.7 | £98.9 | |
Scotland | £207.8 | £200.8 | £213.1 | £209.5 | £225.0 | |
South East | £406.2 | £398.4 | £421.9 | £420.8 | £454.3 | |
South West | £216.3 | £212.2 | £223.4 | £217.3 | £233.7 | |
Wales | £114.1 | £110.2 | £115.2 | £116.4 | £127.1 | |
West Midlands | £224.4 | £221.0 | £230.3 | £230.6 | £249.1 | |
Yorkshire and The Humber | £207.9 | £202.7 | £212.7 | £211.7 | £226.4 | |
Other / Unknown | £36.5 | £56.2 | £91.6 | £136.4 | £194.1 | |
Total | £2,884.4 | £2,843.1 | £3,028.7 | £3,052.0 | £3,338.3 |
Source: HM Revenue and Customers (HMRC) HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) system 2019/20 to 2023/24
Notes:
1. All figures are based on HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) system and were extracted in Jan 2025. RTI is subject to revision and there may be small fluctuations in figures reported - these figures should not be considered “final”.
2. Figures for the total value of parental payments (£m) are rounded to the nearest hundred thousand.
3. Government Office Regions (GOR) are determined by matching the most recent postcode from the previous tax year with the Office for National Statistics’ postcode lookup table. If a partial postcode is provided an assumption is made based on the postcode district or area. The GOR with the most postcodes of a given district is returned. If no postcode is listed then region is marked as unknown. Other includes Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not routinely collect data on the length of Paternity Leave, Shared Parental Leave and Maternity Leave taken by parents. However, the Government commissioned the Parental Rights Survey which provides the best source of data on the length of parental leave taken, the findings are published here - https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/resource/parental-rights-survey-2019 .
In addition, DBT also published HMRC data tables to accompany the Shared Parental Leave evaluation report here which include information on the number of individuals in receipt of SPP, SShPP and SMP by the number of months the payments spanned, this is available here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/shared-parental-leave-spl-evaluation. HMRC or DBT does not hold information which calculates the duration of parental payments by individual claimants.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the average length of (a) Statutory Paternity Leave, (b) Shared Parental Leave and (c) Statutory Maternity Leave claimed by each claimant has been in each of the past five years.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Information provided by employers to HMRC shows that the total value of payments made to individuals in receipt of Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay and Statutory Maternity Pay between 2019/20 and 2023/24 (the latest year for which full year data is available).
The table below presents a breakdown of the value of payments made to individuals by the region (based on recipient residence).
Table 1. Total value of Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), Statutory Shared Parental Pay (SShPP) and Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) payments by claimant resident region, 2019/20 to 2023/24
Statutory Parental Payment | Government Office Region | 2019/20 (£ millions) | 2020/21 (£ millions) | 2021/22 (£ millions) | 2022/23 (£ millions) | 2023/24 (£ millions) |
Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) | East Midlands | £4.3 | £3.7 | £4.3 | £4.1 | £4.8 |
East of England | £5.2 | £4.5 | £5.3 | £5.3 | £6.1 | |
London | £8.1 | £7.4 | £8.5 | £8.0 | £9.6 | |
North East | £2.0 | £1.7 | £2.0 | £2.1 | £2.4 | |
North West | £6.5 | £5.5 | £6.4 | £6.4 | £7.3 | |
Northern Ireland | £2.0 | £1.6 | £1.9 | £1.9 | £2.2 | |
Scotland | £4.4 | £3.7 | £4.5 | £4.2 | £5.0 | |
South East | £7.3 | £6.5 | £7.7 | £7.5 | £8.7 | |
South West | £4.7 | £4.0 | £4.8 | £4.7 | £5.3 | |
Wales | £2.6 | £2.2 | £2.5 | £2.5 | £2.9 | |
West Midlands | £5.3 | £4.4 | £5.1 | £5.1 | £5.9 | |
Yorkshire and The Humber | £4.9 | £4.1 | £4.8 | £4.7 | £5.4 | |
Other / Unknown | £0.6 | £0.8 | £1.6 | £2.2 | £3.5 | |
Total | £57.9 | £50.2 | £59.3 | £58.9 | £69.0 | |
Statutory Shared Parental Pay (SShPP) | East Midlands | £1.1 | £1.2 | £1.4 | £1.4 | £2.0 |
East of England | £2.3 | £1.7 | £2.0 | £2.2 | £3.0 | |
London | £6.9 | £4.9 | £5.4 | £5.4 | £6.2 | |
North East | £0.5 | £0.5 | £0.6 | £0.6 | £1.1 | |
North West | £1.7 | £1.5 | £1.9 | £2.1 | £3.1 | |
Northern Ireland | £0.3 | £0.3 | £0.3 | £0.3 | £0.7 | |
Scotland | £1.2 | £1.1 | £1.3 | £1.3 | £1.5 | |
South East | £3.3 | £2.9 | £3.7 | £4.0 | £5.6 | |
South West | £1.8 | £2.1 | £2.4 | £3.0 | £3.8 | |
Wales | £0.7 | £0.6 | £0.8 | £0.9 | £1.2 | |
West Midlands | £1.2 | £1.1 | £1.4 | £1.6 | £2.0 | |
Yorkshire and The Humber | £1.4 | £1.4 | £1.4 | £1.8 | £2.5 | |
Other / Unknown | £0.3 | £0.4 | £0.6 | £1.0 | £1.8 | |
Total | £22.6 | £19.5 | £23.2 | £25.6 | £34.4 | |
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) | East Midlands | £185.9 | £181.2 | £189.5 | £188.8 | £203.0 |
East of England | £275.5 | £269.8 | £285.9 | £286.6 | £307.8 | |
London | £530.1 | £523.5 | £554.2 | £544.8 | £590.6 | |
North East | £92.9 | £89.7 | £93.3 | £93.1 | £102.1 | |
North West | £295.3 | £286.6 | £303.4 | £304.4 | £326.2 | |
Northern Ireland | £91.5 | £90.8 | £94.2 | £91.7 | £98.9 | |
Scotland | £207.8 | £200.8 | £213.1 | £209.5 | £225.0 | |
South East | £406.2 | £398.4 | £421.9 | £420.8 | £454.3 | |
South West | £216.3 | £212.2 | £223.4 | £217.3 | £233.7 | |
Wales | £114.1 | £110.2 | £115.2 | £116.4 | £127.1 | |
West Midlands | £224.4 | £221.0 | £230.3 | £230.6 | £249.1 | |
Yorkshire and The Humber | £207.9 | £202.7 | £212.7 | £211.7 | £226.4 | |
Other / Unknown | £36.5 | £56.2 | £91.6 | £136.4 | £194.1 | |
Total | £2,884.4 | £2,843.1 | £3,028.7 | £3,052.0 | £3,338.3 |
Source: HM Revenue and Customers (HMRC) HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) system 2019/20 to 2023/24
Notes:
1. All figures are based on HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) system and were extracted in Jan 2025. RTI is subject to revision and there may be small fluctuations in figures reported - these figures should not be considered “final”.
2. Figures for the total value of parental payments (£m) are rounded to the nearest hundred thousand.
3. Government Office Regions (GOR) are determined by matching the most recent postcode from the previous tax year with the Office for National Statistics’ postcode lookup table. If a partial postcode is provided an assumption is made based on the postcode district or area. The GOR with the most postcodes of a given district is returned. If no postcode is listed then region is marked as unknown. Other includes Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) does not routinely collect data on the length of Paternity Leave, Shared Parental Leave and Maternity Leave taken by parents. However, the Government commissioned the Parental Rights Survey which provides the best source of data on the length of parental leave taken, the findings are published here - https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/resource/parental-rights-survey-2019 .
In addition, DBT also published HMRC data tables to accompany the Shared Parental Leave evaluation report here which include information on the number of individuals in receipt of SPP, SShPP and SMP by the number of months the payments spanned, this is available here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/shared-parental-leave-spl-evaluation. HMRC or DBT does not hold information which calculates the duration of parental payments by individual claimants.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in (a) his Department and (b) the Competition and Markets Authority was in each of the last three years.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The table below shows the average length of paternity leave taken by staff. This includes paternity leave after birth.
Time period | Average length of paternity leave (working days) |
01.08.2023. - 31.07.2024. | 10 |
01.08.2022. - 31.07.2023. | 10 |
01.08.2021. - 31.07.2022. | 10 |
The Department for Business and Trade is a newly formed Department established in February 2023. The new department absorbed the functions of the former Department for International Trade (DIT) and some of the functions of the former Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
The figures prior to 01.08.2023 include all former DIT staff and former BEIS staff who transferred to DBT.
The below figures cover the same period for staff at the Competition and Markets Authority.
Year | Average length (mean) of paternity leave (working days) |
2021-22 | 9.8 |
2022-23 | 9.4 |
2023-24 | 8.9 |
2024-25 (to date) | 8.9 |