Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Warrington North, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, whether topping up statutory parental bereavement leave payment with occupational pay up to a staff member’s full pay for two weeks includes bereavement leave for pregnancy loss before 24 weeks.
Answered by Charlotte Nichols
The occupational policies funded by IPSA with regard to MPs' staff aim to align with the eligibility criteria set by the Government with respect to statutory payments, in accordance with the need for IPSA's policy to reflect the experience of other working citizens.
The eligibility criteria for statutory parental bereavement pay establishes that the payment only applies after 24 weeks gestation. IPSA is, however, monitoring the progress of the Employment Rights Bill and once enacted, will update it policies and procedures in accordance with any changes.
Within the rules of the Scheme of of MPs' Staffing and Business Costs, MPs have the discretion to provide compassionate or bereavement leave to any staff member and this is laid out on IPSA's guidance website.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the threshold for qualifying for Small Employers' Relief was last up-rated, and from what level.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Small employers (those who have gross Class 1 National Insurance contributions liability of £45,000 or less in the previous tax year) can claim what is known as Small Employers Relief and can recover 100 percent of Statutory Maternity Pay they have paid out plus an additional compensation payment. This additional compensation payment is known as Small Employers’ Compensation and seeks to support small employers with the associated costs of having an employee on maternity leave which are not thought to affect large employers in the same way, such as the employer’s share of National Insurance contributions that might be payable, as well as administration and recruitment costs.
The same reimbursement arrangements apply to Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Statutory Neonatal Care Pay.
The threshold for qualifying as a small employer was increased in April 2004 from £40,000 to £45,000 (or less) of gross Class 1 National Insurance contributions liability in the previous tax year.
Asked by: Lord Knight of Weymouth (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost to employers of Parental Bereavement Leave since April 2020.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay was introduced in April 2020. The Impact Assessment carried out by the Department (copy attached) estimated that annual costs to employers of the policy would be £2.6m, with an additional £4.8m in one-off costs for employers to familiarise themselves with the policy when it was introduced.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the economic benefits of the current bereavement leave entitlement.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government recognises that the death of a child is a tragic event. There are around 7,500 child deaths a year in Great Britain, including around 3,000 stillbirths. This is devasting for the parents involved and this is why the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy introduced Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay in April this year.
At the time we introduced this entitlement we published an Impact Assessment (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/249/impacts) which contains a cost benefit analysis of the policy, setting out the costs to the Exchequer and business as well as the monetary benefits to employees and business and the social benefit to employees.