Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether their Department offers (a) paid time off work and (b) other support to employees who become kinship carers.

The Ministry of Justice offers paid time off work, in the form of special leave, for kinship carers who have parental responsibility.

Special leave may be granted to employees who need time off work to attend to their caring responsibilities. It may be planned or unplanned, and paid or unpaid. Employees may request special leave for several reasons including:

• where normal care arrangements break down and other arrangements must be made.

• to care for a sick or injured child if no other arrangements can be made.

At the discretion of a manager, special leave may be granted for other personal reasons not mentioned above.

Kinship carers with parental responsibility also have a statutory entitlement to unpaid parental leave.

All Ministry of Justice employees who are kinship carers have access to:

• a comprehensive flexible working policy which all employees can access via the intranet.

• the employee assistance programme which offers a wide range of support to staff including confidential advice on personal, social or work-related problems.

• a variety of staff networks aimed at people with caring responsibilities.