Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of statutory maternity pay levels on (a) workforce retention and (b) maternal health outcomes.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has committed to review the parental leave and pay system.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of treating Maternity Allowance as unearned income for the purposes of Universal Credit on working mothers who are not eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has committed to review the parental leave and pay system.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of his Departments policies relating to Maternity Allowance on women in rural and coastal labour markets in the context of the prevalence of seasonal, part-time or based on short-term contracts in those areas.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government provides a range of state-funded support for new parents depending on individual circumstances. Maternity Allowance is a benefit for women who are working, or have worked recently, but who do not qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay.
To ensure that it caters for different types of working arrangements the qualifying conditions for Maternity Allowance are flexible. Maternity Allowance claimants must have worked for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks prior to the expected week of childbirth but that work does not have to be for the same employer, continuous, or undertaken on the same basis. Agency workers and women on zero-hours contracts are also eligible. To calculate the rate of Maternity Allowance women’s earnings are averaged over 13 weeks within their 66-week test period. The 13 weeks do not need to be consecutive, and women can select their highest-earning weeks to increase the rate of Maternity Allowance they will receive.
The Government has also committed to review the parental leave and pay system.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he plans to respond to his Department's consultation on parental leave and pay review which closed on 25 August 2025.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Parental Leave and Pay Review launched in July 2025 alongside a Call for Evidence which ran until 25 August 2025. We received almost 1500 responses to this Call for Evidence which are currently being analysed with the findings going on to inform the Review. The Government will publish the Review’s findings and a roadmap at its conclusion in early 2027. This will include next steps for taking any potential reforms forward to implementation.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to introduce interim mitigations for families potentially affected by the outcome of the Parental Leave and Pay Review.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Parental Leave and Pay Review is designed to build on our evidence base, assess how well the current system is working and identify where there may be opportunities for improvement. The Review will conclude in early 2027 and the Government will outline next steps for taking any reforms forward to implementation.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on expected changes in childcare demand in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency associated with childcare measures in the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
The government’s landmark Child Poverty Strategy sets out how we intend to monitor and evaluate the impacts of the strategy, including understanding how this varies across the UK and for different groups. From next year, parents claiming Universal Credit who are starting or returning to work (including after parental leave) will be able to have their childcare costs paid before they pay them - removing the need to front the money and claim it back later. Previously, Universal Credit covered childcare costs for up to two children. Under the new policy, families with more than two children will receive support for all their childcare costs.
Although we do not hold this data on a constituency level, there are no reported issues in the South East region.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with adoptive and kinship families about levels of support offered by statutory authorities to meet family needs.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government works closely with organisations that represent kinship and adoptive families, and directly with adopters and kinship carers through both our adopter and kinship carer reference groups.
Following the Care Review, the government updated the kinship care guidance for local authorities and appointed the first ever National Kinship Ambassador, who works closely to engage with lived experience groups.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to assess and provide adoption support tailored to family needs. This includes financial assistance such as adoption allowances, settling-in grants, and access to adoption leave and pay. The adoption and special guardianship support fund provides post-adoption support interventions, including therapeutic support for adopted children and their families.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the department will mandate all local authorities in England to publish their local kinship offer and offer family group decision-making at pre-proceedings where that is in the child’s best interests. We will soon trial a kinship allowance in some local authorities, to support eligible kinship carers with the additional cost incurred when taking the parental responsibility of a child in kinship care.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to meet to meet the ambition for kinship care set out by the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Following the Care Review, the government appointed the first ever National Kinship Care Ambassador and updated the Kinship Care Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/670d3ed5e84ae1fd8592f2fa/Kinship_Care_-_statutory_guidance_for_local_authorities__October_2024.pdf.
The government has also extended both the delivery of over 140 kinship carer peer support groups across England and the virtual school head role (on a non-statutory basis) to include championing the education, attendance, and attainment of children in kinship care.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we will mandate all local authorities in England to publish their local kinship offer and offer Family Group Decision Making at pre-proceedings where that is in the child’s best interests.
The department will soon launch a Kinship Allowance Pilot to support eligible kinship carers with the costs of raising a child, which will support up to 4,500 children in kinship care in pilot local authorities. Any wider rollout of this will be informed by findings of the evaluation.
Kinship leave is also in scope of government’s parental leave review, which will recommend improvements to the current parental leave system.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to deliver accessible training and support services for kinship carers.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Following the Care Review, the government appointed the first ever National Kinship Care Ambassador and updated the Kinship Care Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/670d3ed5e84ae1fd8592f2fa/Kinship_Care_-_statutory_guidance_for_local_authorities__October_2024.pdf.
The government has also extended both the delivery of over 140 kinship carer peer support groups across England and the virtual school head role (on a non-statutory basis) to include championing the education, attendance, and attainment of children in kinship care.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we will mandate all local authorities in England to publish their local kinship offer and offer Family Group Decision Making at pre-proceedings where that is in the child’s best interests.
The department will soon launch a Kinship Allowance Pilot to support eligible kinship carers with the costs of raising a child, which will support up to 4,500 children in kinship care in pilot local authorities. Any wider rollout of this will be informed by findings of the evaluation.
Kinship leave is also in scope of government’s parental leave review, which will recommend improvements to the current parental leave system.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to extend the Kinship Allowance programme to all eligible local authorities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Following the Care Review, the government appointed the first ever National Kinship Care Ambassador and updated the Kinship Care Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/670d3ed5e84ae1fd8592f2fa/Kinship_Care_-_statutory_guidance_for_local_authorities__October_2024.pdf.
The government has also extended both the delivery of over 140 kinship carer peer support groups across England and the virtual school head role (on a non-statutory basis) to include championing the education, attendance, and attainment of children in kinship care.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we will mandate all local authorities in England to publish their local kinship offer and offer Family Group Decision Making at pre-proceedings where that is in the child’s best interests.
The department will soon launch a Kinship Allowance Pilot to support eligible kinship carers with the costs of raising a child, which will support up to 4,500 children in kinship care in pilot local authorities. Any wider rollout of this will be informed by findings of the evaluation.
Kinship leave is also in scope of government’s parental leave review, which will recommend improvements to the current parental leave system.