Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in her Department was in each of the last three years; and whether she holds similar data for police forces in England and Wales.

The Home Office policy is named 'maternity and adoption support leave' in recognition of the fact that the secondary parent or, in the case of adoption, the secondary adopter, is not necessarily a man. The average length of maternity and adoption support for last three financial years is outlined below.

The Home Office does not collect centrally information on the average length of paternity leave taken by those working within the police service.