§ Mrs. RocheTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the(a) women who are mothers and (b) men who are fathers who are employed by his Department have received assistance from the Department with child care. [1282]
§ Mrs. Angela Knight[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 intrusive on people's personal affairs for us to request this information from staff and difficult to justify the collection of such data.
The Treasury offers staff subsidised places on the Westminster holiday play scheme. So far this year, Treasury staff have used a total of 73 places. We also make contributions to additional child care costs where staff are required to work additional or irregular hours, and we offer paid special leave to staff to enable them to care for sick close relatives and children.