§ Mr. Bercow>To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the(a) financial costs and (b) benefits to his Department of the parental leave directive. [42473]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownParental leave is unpaid and therefore incurs no direct financial cost. We do not keep records of the opportunity or indirect cost of staff taking parental leave. Information obtained from our payroll systems shows that during the period 1 March 2001 to 28 February 2001, staff in DWP took a total of 2,075 days parental leave.
We cannot quantify the specific benefits to the Department provided by the parental leave directive because it is only one part of a wide range of family-friendly policies provided by the Department. Benefits to the Department include increased labour supply, reduced turnover and a higher commitment from staff while enabling them to achieve a better balance between their home and working lives.