§ Ms RyanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the current requirements for maternity pay and leave. [160153]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonThe responses to the consultation on the Green Paper "Work and Parents—Competitiveness and Choice" have confirmed that the existing rules for maternity pay and leave are unnecessarily complex for employers and employees. This complexity is particularly a problem for small businesses.
Through the consultation process employers, their representatives, working parents and those representing unions and family groups have told us that they want to see simplification of these rules.
I have responded to these strong calls for simplification by today publishing a framework for a simplified maternity pay and leave system, including an assessment of the likely benefits and costs of any changes.
This new framework will deliver simplicity, certainty and improved planning time for both employers and employees. It sets out changes to the notification procedures and periods and unified and simpler qualification requirements.
An integral part of the new system is the Government's decision, following the consultation, to allow mothers the choice to take up to a year's maternity leave in total. This was strongly supported by parents and their representatives. This will be another important step in the process of helping parents balance their work and home lives. It builds on the steps announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget Statement and by me, in my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Laura Moffatt), on 25 April 2001, Official Report, columns 280–81.
I welcome comments on the framework and have placed copies of the document in the Library of the House.