Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to encourage employers to be flexible and accommodating to mothers of young children in their employment.

This Government has a strong record of supporting parents and has introduced a number of measures to support parents of young children in the workplace and to encourage employers to be flexible.

Specific measures include; spending almost £6 billion on childcare support in 2019/20 – more than ever before, extending the right to request flexible working to all, introducing a system of shared parental leave and becoming one of the first countries in the world to introduce gender pay gap reporting.

The female employment rate is at a joint record high of 71.8% and the gender pay gap is at a record low.