Work and Families Bill

I am grateful for that clarification and I accept that an element of transferability remains in the Government’s introduction of the additional paternity leave. However, the way in which it is being done in the Bill creates a new right to paternity leave and many employers are concerned about that. They are not necessarily worried about the transferability element but about the potential requirements for the paternity leave further down the line. I remain attracted to the concept of interchangeability. Indeed, we proposed that for consideration more than a year ago. The hon. Member for Burnley set out some of the circumstances in which a family may feel that it makes sense for them for the transferability to happen earlier than at the end of the first six months. I am sure that we shall revert to transferability and its legal aspects when we consider the Bill in more detail in Committee. Earlier, I referred to the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Havant. One of his suggestions to the Government related to the central administration of maternity benefits. Small employers in particular find the statutory maternity pay calculation and the paperwork involved complex. As has been widely discussed in the past, small firms should focus on winning new business, not filling in forms for the Government. They would greatly benefit if the administration of statutory maternity pay were handed back to the Revenue, assuming that a simple procedure for supplying the information to the Government could be developed. Many larger firms are happy to continue to administer statutory maternity pay because they are more aware of the rules and more likely to pay occupational maternity pay and they have already invested in the systems that enable them to do that easily. However, many small businesses would perceive the central administration of maternity pay as a significant opportunity to reduce the burden of maternity leave. I continue to believe that it would make sense for the Government to allow firms to choose whether they hand back the administration of statutory maternity pay to the Revenue, providing employers, especially small businesses, with much-needed extra support to help them cope with the significant extra and unexpected burdens.