Work and Families Bill

I do not favour that, because it would send out the wrong signal. We should either support someone on parental leave or not support them. I note the hon. Gentleman’s general point. I hope that take-up by new fathers will be high, because fathers and families would benefit from that. However, it is not up to Government to tell families how they should organise their lives. We should provide an enabling environment so that they can make the choices that work for them. The Bill will allow both parents to be equal at the end of the first year, if that is what they want. The mother can take the first six months off, during which time the father continues to work. The father can then take the second six months off while the mother returns to work to seek promotion opportunities and whatever else she wants to do. That is a wholly advantageous move that we should all support. I want to take my example a little further. Earlier, I asked the Secretary of State about a situation in which a woman wants to go back to work after three months. We should not force her to do so, but I can imagine many situations where she might want to, perhaps because she likes working or because she is in a sufficiently senior position in the organisation that she is genuinely worried that there will be negative business effects if she does not go back—or, God forbid, she is a Member of Parliament whose constituents could not tolerate the idea of her having six months off. Colleagues will know that I have some experience of that. It would be wrong if the mother wanted to go back to work when the baby was three months old and the father wanted to take over but the legislation or regulations did not allow it. The mother would have to remain at home for the second three months to wait for the father to be allowed to take over, thereby damaging her business, or they would have to employ another form of child care for that period. That would be unnecessarily disruptive for the child if both parents wanted to share the year between them. When I mentioned that to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, he said that it was not favoured in the consultations. I have read those, however, and some groups did favour it, particularly Fathers Direct, which claims to speak for a large interest group on this matter and should not be ignored. Earlier, my right hon. Friend said that World Health Organisation guidelines suggest that women should breast-feed for six months—so does the Department of Health, but it also recommends several other things including not smoking, not drinking too much, and eating five portions of fruit and veg each day. In the end, it is up to individuals to decide how they wish to interpret such advice. If the Government really think that women should breast-feed for six months, they should legislate to that effect, but I am sure that they do not think that women should be forced to do so. In fact, the Government have, I am proud to say, introduced regulations that require employers to provide areas where women can breast-feed or—without troubling the House with too much technicality—express milk and so on. I therefore urge my hon. Friends on the Front Bench to consider as they consult further whether greater flexibility should be allowed on the matter. In summary, the Bill will transform the culture of our workplaces, and that is excellent. It will help to provide male and female role models to whom young parents can look when they decide how to balance their work and family lives. It will lead to less, not more discrimination. It will be good for small and large companies as they realise that the measure requires them to think beyond their existing talent pool. That is good for our economy and for families in this country.