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Work and Families Bill

I thank my hon. Friend for assisting me, because I have got it wrong. When I said 28 days excluding bank holidays, I meant to say 20 days excluding bank holidays. I inadvertently misled the House in my answer to the hon. Member for Nottingham, East (Mr. Heppell), who said from a sedentary position that it depends on what 28 days means. I am in favour of 20 days plus bank holidays, not 20 days including bank holidays. I hope that I have now made myself clear. I apologise for my lack of clarity, Madam Deputy Speaker, and thank my hon. Friend the Member for Broxbourne (Mr. Walker) for noticing it and helping me so propitiously. The Secretary of State is right that, if the Bill works as it is intended to work, business will become more efficient as well as more family-friendly. There is no need for what we describe as family-friendly measures to be in any way opposed to business-friendly measures. As he said, if things work properly, there should not be a choice between a business working efficiently and profitably and a work force being happy. On the contrary, for a business to work to the best of its ability, it is necessary to have a work force who are working to the best of their ability. That means that it is necessary to have a proper work-life balance. We come back, as we always do, to that word, ““balance””. That is what it is all about. My concern throughout has been that, if measures go too far in one direction, the Bill will backfire. I do not want employers to be reluctant to employ women of childbearing age because they are likely to take maternity leave.