Maternity Leave (Hansard, 5 May 2004)

§ Mr. Hendrick
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many and what percentage of women in Preston have taken 26 weeks maternity leave since 1997. [169669]

§ Mr. Sutcliffe
Take-up of maternity leave is not recorded centrally. It is possible to make an estimate of the numbers of women taking maternity leave based on employer returns to Inland Revenue for payment of Statutory Maternity Pay (since 2003 this has covered the first 26 weeks of leave). Figures for the take-up of SMP are not available on a regional basis, but nationally around 300,000 women receive SMP each year.
In addition, there will be some women who will qualify for maternity leave but not SMP (because they do not meet the earnings criteria) and similarly some who qualify for SMP but not leave (because they are employed earners for the purposes of SMP but not employees in order to qualify for leave).

§ Mr. Neil Turner
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many and what percentage of women in Wigan have taken 26 weeks maternity leave since 1997. [169319]

§ Mr. Sutcliffe
Take-up of maternity leave is not recorded centrally. It is possible to make an estimate of the numbers of women taking maternity leave based on employer returns to Inland Revenue for payment of Statutory Maternity Pay (since 2003 this has covered the1640W first 26 weeks of leave). Figures for the take-up of SMP are not available on a regional basis, but nationally around 300,000 women receive SMP each year.
In addition, there will be some women who will qualify for maternity leave but not SMP (because they do not meet the earnings criteria) and similarly some who qualify for SMP but not leave (because they are employed earners for the purposes of SMP but not employees in order to qualify for leave).