Work and Families Bill

Exactly. As noble Lords will recognise, that is already in the draft regulations, and I can assure the noble Baroness and other Members of the Committee that the Government are clearly committed to continuing with the policy. As the noble Baroness says, and I think we all agree, we are trying to reach a consensus and get a balance between the needs of businesses to run their business effectively and the needs of employees to take advantage of these provisions, which, as we have all agreed, are important for raising children in the most supportive and effective way possible. The issue of the extension from 28 to 56 days is pretty persuasive. Employers do have a concern about managing maternity leave and, particularly at the point when women return from maternity leave, they can be uncertain about when an employee will return. The experience of many businesses is that, when a woman wishes to return early, the current 28-day notice does not give the business enough time to make the necessary arrangements, particularly when that includes notice to a temporary employee taken on to cover the maternity leave absence. That is why we were persuaded that it would be right to extend the period from 28 to 56 days. Obviously, it is a matter of achieving a realistic balance between the needs of women and their employers. The regulations are subject to consultation and, clearly, we will consider those in due course. But ultimately our view is that this is a very satisfactory outcome of these discussions, as it still enables the woman to give notice in due time and enables her to plan that, while also enabling the employer to make such arrangements.