§ Mrs. RocheTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what proportion of the(a) women who are mothers and (b) men who are fathers who are employed by her Department have received any assistance from the Department with child care.[1289]
§ Mr. Sproat[holding answer 4 November 1996]: Although the civil service collects statistical information on staff employed in Government Departments and executive agencies, we do not collect information on the parental status of individual staff. It would be inappropriate for us to request this information from staff and difficult to justify the collection of such data. However my Department, as part of its equal opportunities policy, offers a range of child care facilities including a subsidised nursery place, a subsidised holiday play scheme and standard civil service maternity and paternity provisions; staff also have the opportunity to take extended leave due to family commitments.