Work and Families Bill

It took the Conservatives a long time to get anywhere, and they did not get to the stage of benefiting working people. We have ensured that there is the opportunity for broad consensus on the measures because of the change in economic circumstances and the need to get people back into work, if that is what they want to do. The right hon. Member for Maidenhead said that we should have put the provisions alongside the measures in the Childcare Bill that has come from the Department for Education and Skills. She will know that the scope of the Bills is different. The Opposition would have attacked us for not taking into account the interests of business had we put them together. She will understand why there is a separate Bill and why we need to look at it in detail. The Bill sets out minimum standards. The reality is that most good employers already see the business case for ensuring that their employees are well treated and that they retain employment. Surely the Government’s role is to set out a series of minimum standards so that people do not fall below what is expected. My hon. Friend the Member for Erewash (Liz Blackman) was grateful for the Government’s work on the role and value of carers. She raised a particular issue on the definition of carers. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said, we will consider that in great detail and ensure that we listen to hon. Members on both sides of the House and to the various bodies that need to give us their view on what the definition should be. We need to balance the responsibilities and rights of employers and employees. The point was made that some employers will not employ women of childbearing age. That is a disgrace. We need to highlight the bad business sense of doing that and ensure that people know that it is illegal to discriminate in that way. My hon. Friend the Member for Warrington, North welcomed the Bill and asked whether the bank holiday entitlement would be paid. Our manifesto commitment was that bank holidays should be an additional, paid entitlement. She also asked us to consider what should happen in the tragic cases in which the mother dies after childbirth. I shall do that and I shall be interested to hear what my hon. Friend and others have to say about what we can do in such circumstances. Unusually, the hon. Member for Bromsgrove welcomed the Government’s progressive policies on work and families, but she asked for more flexibility in maternity leave. She explained the role of management and middle managers, who have to understand the need for maternity leave and for good employment practices to ensure that people are looked after. She asked about the changes to employment law relating to a replacement employee who might be in place for up to 12 months. She said that that person would get employment rights and asked what their situation would be. Clearly, a contract would be entered into at the outset of the replacement explaining the reasons for that period of employment. My hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, North also asked about the definition of carers. She gave a moving account of how she cares for her 94-year-old mother, with the help of an army of carers, mainly women. She made an important point about the way in which caring responsibilities affect carers’ ability to advance their careers, or to obtain employment in the first place. She acknowledged the success of the Employment Act 2002, but also raised important issues relating to sleep deprivation and other factors that affect the work-life balance. The Chairman of the Trade and Industry Committee, the hon. Member for Mid-Worcestershire, spoke of his experience as the son of a single mother, commonly known as a latch-key kid. He emphasised the balance that we have to strike between the role of the employer and the role of the employee. He read out a list of things that he said are contributing to a lack of competitiveness in the job market by cumulatively putting a burden on business. The most notable item on that list was the national minimum wage, although he repented of having voted against the National Minimum Wage Act 1998. Good businesses want to ensure that they are not at a disadvantage compared with bad employers or rogue employers, and our debate has focused on what good employers should do and on ensuring that they are not disadvantaged because poor employers do not do those things. That is why the legislation is important. The hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford was scathing about the fact that the Government have not taken into account the costs of the Bill. He wants us to delay its implementation, but that is not appropriate. We have tried to ensure that the costs are reflected in the regulatory impact assessment and I am sure that the details will be examined in Committee. A range of detailed issues have been raised this evening, and in the time allowed I cannot answer all of them. However, as is my wont, I shall write to hon. Members on those detailed issues. I know from previous experience that we will have the opportunity to discuss them in Committee. The good thing about tonight is that we have had the opportunity to discuss the Bill in the round. I commend it to the House.