Work and Families Bill

To finish the sentence of the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mrs. Moon), it is likely nowadays that someone may be a carer and a parent of young children at the same time. It is a serious matter that we must all recognise. We welcome the intention of the Bill and we want it to work but we have, of course, some concerns about its detail. There are two points in particular. First, the Bill must be kept simple. If it leads to an explosion in red tape and bureaucracy and extra rules for businesses of all sizes and for employees as well as employers, it will not work because people will not have confidence in it. Secondly, we do not want the pendulum to swing so far that the Bill becomes counter-productive. As some of my hon. Friends have mentioned, it would be wrong if rights were created that required so much of employers, particularly small businesses, that they were unwilling to employ people who had family duties, particularly young women of child-bearing age. If that were to happen, and I hope that it does not, the Bill would backfire and it would not work. We want it to work. In everything I say, I want to ensure that the Bill is improved, so that those concerns are taken care of and the legislation will work. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) said earlier, the economic case for such a measure is proven. In today’s work force, for the economy to work with maximum efficiency, it is absolutely necessary that every single person who is willing and able to work, and who has the experience and talent to do so, is able to use their abilities to their fullest extent. Unusually, the Minister for Women and Equality, the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Meg Munn), is not here, although I am not surprised, given the burden of legislation that she has had to deal with in the past few weeks. I pay tribute to her for bringing to light a fascinating statistic, which I have mentioned several times in recent weeks in this Chamber and in Committees considering similar legislation. If all the women in the UK work force were working at the height of their capacity and to the best of their talents—instead of taking jobs of a lower standard because they want to work part-time; or taking a career break and subsequently being unable to slot in at their previous level—our gross domestic product would improve by 3 per cent. That is a stunning statistic: 3 per cent. of GDP is equal to our annual trade with Germany. That is an enormous sum and I am sure that the Chancellor would welcome such an improvement, given the awful figures that he was forced to announce to the House today. That said, I stress that we want this legislation to work. The hon. Member for Bridgend made a very good point about people often having to tell white lies, let us say, in order to cope with a situation about which they should not have to tell lies. When I discovered last week that the Bill was to be given its Second Reading today and that I would have the great honour of winding up for the Opposition, I had to change some of my arrangements for this evening, which had included attending a very worthwhile charity event. I also had to change arrangements with my nanny, who looks after my small son. I told her this morning that unfortunately, I would be unable to go to the ball because I had to be here this evening, and she said, ““Can’t you just call in sick?”” I had to explain that it does not work that way here, but at that point it occurred to me that, of course, that is what people have always done. People call in sick when in fact, if the employment arrangements were reasonable and flexible, there could be far more honesty, and both employer and employee could be above board about what is actually going on. The hon. Member for Bridgend told a very good story about her father, but my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Mr. Benyon) takes the prize in this regard. Just a few weeks ago, his wife gave birth to—a child. [Interruption.] My helpful hon. Friends tell me that it was a boy: my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury has a new son. Unlike my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (John Bercow), who had to explain to the Whips in rather difficult circumstances that he intended to take paternity leave, my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury simply fell over on his way out of the hospital and broke his leg. [Interruption.] I am inaccurate in that as well; apparently, he broke his foot, as my hon. Friend the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) helpfully points out. The principle is that it should not be necessary for people to find excuses to be there for the first few weeks of their child’s life, whether they are the mother or father. We have had a constructive debate this evening. The hon. Member for Erewash (Liz Blackman) spoke passionately about carers and she was right to highlight the predicament of parents who have children who are in need of extra care but who may not be categorised as having special needs. They may still have extra needs that should be taken into consideration as far as their parents’ employment is concerned. The hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb), who spoke on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, was right to talk of the need to get the work-life balance right. I hope that that term has not become jargon, because it is important. We are trying to achieve a reasonable balance and, for once, I did not disagree with everything that the spokesman for the Liberal Democrats said. We may have a constructive time in Committee. The hon. Member for Warrington, North (Helen Jones) is right about the business case. She made a good case that was similar to what my hon. Friends and I have said, so I do not understand why she claims that the Opposition are unsupportive of the Bill. We welcome these provisions. She has listened to a small number of my colleagues, but not to me. Nor has she listened to my hon. Friend the Member for Bromsgrove (Miss Kirkbride), who made a powerful speech. She understands these issues very well and she is right to have spent some time with her son this evening. We forgive her for not having been here for the whole of the debate, because that is what she was doing.