Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Ministers who are providing cover for a Minister who is on maternity leave receive an exit payment if they leave Ministerial office at the end of the maternity cover period.

Since 13 October 2025, ministers who serve for fewer than six months are expected to forgo their severance payment.

Ministers who return to office within three months of leaving will be asked to forgo their salary until the end of that three-month period.

Provisions for maternity cover and severance payments are set out in the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Act 2021, and Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 respectively.