Equal Pay and Flexible Working Bill [HL]

My Lords, I apologise for getting my retailers mixed up. I am glad to be corrected on that point because I am sure she would not have been happy. The review was well received after full consultation and it concluded that extending the right to request to parents of children up to the age of 16 would allow them to support their children through their GCSEs. It stressed the growing importance of exams and highlighted that some parents will want to work more flexibly, on either a permanent or a temporary basis, to help their children prepare for them. Imelda Walsh rejected a smaller extension to the age of 12 because of the importance of enabling parents to support their children through their early teenage years. She also rejected a wider increase to 18; representations to the review suggested that parental need for flexible working at this time is weaker. She recognised that young adults aged 16 to 18 can be expected to take greater personal responsibility than younger teenagers, whether in education, training or a first job. She highlighted that the increase to 16 would be sizeable and the single biggest increase in the number of employees entitled to the right to request, from over 6 million now to over 10 million from April. Furthermore, official data show that the labour outcomes for mothers aged 16 and under in particular can be compromised by trying to balance their work/life commitments. Female employment rates rise steadily by age of youngest child. By 15 they are still only around 50 per cent, but when the youngest child reaches 17 almost 70 per cent of mothers are at work. It is therefore right that we focus on parents of children up to the age of 16 where there is a real need to be met. I recognise that some wish us to go further than that amount, but I hope the noble Baroness will recognise the representations that have been made from all sides. There are also others who would prefer us to delay. The Government have carefully considered all the arguments but continue to believe that the extension to 16 balances parental need with business requirements and is a fair outcome for both parties. We have recently consulted on how to implement the extension and our response is due to be published shortly. The extension to flexible working will be introduced from April 2009, and an extra 4.5 million parents in Britain will gain new rights to request flexible working. This is a significant achievement and, we believe, the right way forward. The noble Baroness, Lady Morris, will no doubt recognise that there are some serious considerations of elements of her Bill but that we have to take a balanced view. We look forward to building cross-party support for our equality Bill. I am very proud of this Government’s achievements. We are a party with three times as many female MPs as all the rest put together. We have introduced longer maternity leave, paid paternity leave, the right to flexible working and other measures, including the national minimum wage and tax credits, that make a huge difference to the lives of millions of women. Those measures have been opposed by the Opposition. I assure the House that we will show the report of the debate to all the relevant Ministers across government. I shall also ensure that relevant officials follow the progress of the Bill through the House.