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Work and Families Bill

Many Members of this Committee also took part in the Children and Adoption Bill earlier this Session. The discussions during that Bill highlighted the important role that a father plays in a child’s nurture and development. Research has shown that the stability provided by the involvement of both parents often gives children the grounding and confidence to be bold, take risks and develop into well-rounded individuals. The Equal Opportunities Commission has provided research that suggests—as the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, said—that 70 per cent of people questioned agreed or agreed strongly that having time off work when a baby is born would change the role of fathers within the family for the better. I completely agree, particularly when we look at the important work into attachment. There can be no doubt that we welcome the extended paternity rights and provisions that the Bill makes. The amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, would take the provisions further. She mentioned the results of the EOC/ICM poll that one in three fathers would have liked to have taken more time off at the time of birth and more than two-thirds of fathers supported increasing time off to four weeks, as proposed by the amendment. Also, more than nine in 10 fathers working as employees currently take leave from work during their baby’s first eight weeks. Those figures have helped support the case for the noble Baroness’s amendment. However, we are aware of the additional burden that the Bill already places on businesses, especially small businesses. The EOC itself recognises that these changes are good only if they are also good for business. Indeed, I am interested that the EOC survey also stated that only 28 per cent of fathers said that they would take leave at the current level. That does not bode well for the proposed take up of the extended options suggested by the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, in Amendment No. 21. Many lobby groups have called for more government support to coincide with the changes that the Bill produces. The CBI has already been critical of the Government for failing to meet their commitments to better regulation and lightening the burden on business, while the Federation of Small Businesses, for example, has concerns over the current provision for new paternity leave provided for by the Bill and how it will actually work in practice, citing serious concerns that the Government have not given this sufficient consideration. No one doubts—least of all me—the important role that a father plays in the life of his family. However, we need to consider these amendments as part of a wider balance between families and work, employers and employees. I reiterate the comments of my right honourable friend Theresa May in another place that:"““There is no point in being family-friendly if we are not job-friendly””.—[Official Report, Commons, 5/12/05; col. 656.]"