Work and Families Bill

Again, we have taken a power in the Bill because we want to consult widely and listen to such arguments. That will be an important part of the debate on that part of the Bill. Since 1997 we have trebled the financial support that a working family gets in the first year of a child’s life from £2,610 in 1997 to more than £8,000 by April 2007. We have created 1.2 million additional child care places and guaranteed all three and four-year-olds a free part-time nursery place. It is worth remembering that the Conservative party opposed every single one of those measures. The Bill has four principal parts. The first part will allow us to extend paid maternity leave and adoption leave from six months to nine months from April 2007. By the end of this Parliament, we intend to extend that to a full 12 months’ paid maternity leave. The second part will extend paternity leave and paternity pay. Paternity leave will increase by up to six months in the second half of the baby’s first year if the mother returns to work. The third part of the Bill will extend the right to request flexible working from April 2007 so that it covers carers of adults, as well as parents of small children and disabled children up to 18 years of age. The right to request has been an enormous success and has been taken up by almost one in four parents—almost 1 million parents in total. Eighty per cent. of all requests for more flexible working have been agreed immediately, with a further 10 per cent. agreed with modification as a result of discussions between employer and employee. Only one in 10 requests have been refused. Most respondents to our consultation said that carers of adults should be the priority in extending the right to request. Some 6.6 million people have caring responsibilities and 3.5 million of them have jobs. Their role in society has become more important, given the ageing population and a growing need for family care rather than institutional care. That is why this aspect of the Bill will make an important contribution to the economic as well as the social environment.