Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department offers paternity leave to its staff from their first working day.

All staff working for the department and its arm’s length bodies are entitled to paternity leave, subject to qualifying service, which varies between organisations.

Some staff could qualify for statutory paternity leave on their first day of service with their department because they already have qualifying service with another Civil Service organisation, or because their organisation offers it on day 1.

As with any changes to employment legislation, internal policies and processes will be updated as appropriate in preparation for when the Employment Rights Bill 2024 comes into effect.