§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to implement paid parental leave for parents with children aged five years or under. [2136]
§ Alan JohnsonThe Government have recently extended parental leave to all parents with children who were under five at 15 December 1999, when the right was first introduced.
Experience since then suggests that parental leave has created fewer practical problems for business than may first have been anticipated, and the time is now right to increase the number of parents who are able to exercise the right.
The Green Paper "Work and Parents: Competitiveness and Choice" was published in December 2000, laid out a series of options to help parents balance their work and family lives and included the option to pay parental leave.
Responses to the consultation revealed that paid parental leave was not a high priority for employees or employers in comparison to other options and accordingly the Government have decided not to take this option forward.