Draft Carer's Leave Regulations 2024 Draft Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave and Shared Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024

Wendy Chamberlain Excerpts

Wednesday 21st February 2024 General Committees

[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I am conscious that being present at a delegated legislation Committee is more of a novelty for me than it may be for other Members present, but I do think it is fitting that regulations arising from the Carer’s Leave Act are progressing alongside those in relation to the work done by the hon. Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis), because our private Members’ Bills seemed to progress pretty much in tandem through all their steps.

I am very grateful to the civil servants, some of whom are here today, for their support, and to the Minister. Although we saw several Ministers along the way, I am very glad that we have reached a conclusion today. I am also very grateful to noble Lords, including Lord Fox, who took the Bill forward in the Lords. I also want to mention Baroness Pitkeathley—the former chief executive of Carers UK—and others who took part in the process in the other place, as well as the all-party parliamentary group on carers, many members of which took part. I am also grateful to the hon. Member for Eastbourne, who took part in the Bill Committee.

The shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston, made a good point about regulation 8 and the postponement of carer’s leave. I firmly believe that the regulations and the Carer’s Leave Act are a win-win: they are a win not just for employees who have unpaid caring responsibilities, but for employers. In relation to regulation 8, we need good communication with employers about the benefits of the Act. The fact is that people who work for them now are caring and will be caring, whether or not the legislation exists. We must allow people to bring their whole selves to work and to have honest conversations with their employers. Yes, that might come with an associated risk that we need to guard against, but if employers have the right relationships with their employees—during the progress of my Bill, I met many employers who already go above and beyond—they can demonstrate that unpaid carers are assets to their workforce.

When working on the Bill, trying to find constituents in North East Fife who would benefit from it was quite challenging, because many unpaid carers had already given up work to fulfil their unpaid caring responsibilities. The shadow Minister said there was a need to address this issue because of the gender pay gap. However, we need to look not just at the gender pay gap, but at the gender pension gap. Many people, generally women, are leaving the workforce to undertake caring responsibilities. As a result of their absence from working life, they are losing out not only financially but in terms of affording a more comfortable retirement. The Government have made crystal clear that they want to work on returning over-50s to the workplace. I do not want to give up on support for unpaid carers, but we should look at, for instance, keeping in touch days and recognise that the caring journeys of many unpaid carers will come to an end because the person they are caring for very sadly passes away.

I do not want to take up too much of the Committee’s time. I want to hear what the Government are doing to promote the regulations and the Act, which comes into force on 6 April, so that as many employers and employees are aware as possible, and so that employees can ask for and ensure that they have their rights. Otherwise, they will continue to take annual leave to fulfil their responsibilities. I am hugely grateful to all the charities that have supported me and the passage of the Bill, and thereby the draft regulations. I particularly note Carers UK, Carers Trust and, in my constituency, Fife Carers Centre.