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Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (General) Regulations 2010

My Lords, in moving this Motion, I shall, with the leave of the House, speak to the other five Motions in my name. In the past decade, the Government have substantially improved help for new parents, especially by increasing maternity pay and leave and by introducing both paid paternity leave and adoption leave. A growing number of fathers, however, are keen to be more heavily involved in raising their child during its first year. As it stands, all employed mothers and adopters are entitled to 52 weeks of maternity or adoption leave, 39 of which may be paid. Fathers, though, can claim just two weeks of paid paternity leave. It makes clear sense to provide fathers with greater opportunities to spend time with their baby. When fathers are instrumental in the upbringing of children, those children do better in school and are less likely to get caught up in criminal activity. In cases where mothers earn more money than their partner, greater flexibility in childcare arrangements could have a significant impact on the family income. These regulations will entitle fathers to up to six months of leave to care for a child where the child’s mother, or primary adopter, returns to work without using her full entitlement to maternity or adoption leave. Some of this leave may be paid if taken during the mother’s statutory maternity pay period. The six instruments that we are examining today are part of a package that will ensure that the scheme is consistent with existing statutory payments and covers all employees. In line with this, the rate of pay will be linked to the basic rate of statutory maternity pay, maternity allowance, statutory paternity pay and statutory adoption pay. Right now, this is £123.06 per week. It rises to £124.88 next month for all these statutory payments. The effectiveness of these regulations depends on them applying across all organisations, irrespective of size. The Government recognise the concerns of some small businesses regarding further regulation. We recognise that the absence of staff in a small company could have a disproportionate impact, although our estimates are that less than 1 per cent of small businesses will be affected in any one year. For this reason, small businesses will be able to recover 104.5 per cent of statutory payments made, as they can already for statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay. In addition, we have consciously designed the scheme to be light-touch, by building on existing arrangements for employees who take ordinary paternity leave. Parents will be able to self-certify their entitlement and to provide details which will allow employers to calculate their own entitlement. Our goal is to reduce the administrative and financial burden on SMEs. However, a light touch is not the same as a soft touch. We believe that the system proposed presents minimal risk of fraud and abuse. As with other statutory payments, we will conduct compliance checks and impose financial penalties on those who break the law. We have taken one further step to address the concerns of some employers, by delaying the introduction of these regulations. They will come into effect for parents of babies due from April 2011, giving businesses an extra year to prepare for the change. We are already working with employers to ensure that they are ready. Guidance will be publicly available well before the implementation date. We estimate that around 400,000 men a year will qualify for additional paternity leave: 400,000 fathers who will have the opportunity, should they so wish, to play a more central role in what is arguably the most critical year of a child’s life. These regulations are indicative of the Government’s commitment to families, to fairness and to choice at work. I commend them to the House.