I thank colleagues on both sides of the House for the moving speeches that they have made. As you may know, Madam Deputy Speaker, I usually try to start my addresses to this House with a quip or a humorous comment, but I am afraid that today is not an occasion for that. This is a very serious Bill. I am the third Minister to have had the honour of working on it. That is not because no one can be bothered with it, but because it is very important. Every human being, let alone every Member of Parliament, will have every sympathy with it.
Colleagues have made it clear that the Government fully support the Bill, and I reaffirm once again that it very much has our backing. Despite the public reading, quite rightly, of the system of opposition—some say that it is opposition for opposition’s sake and some say that people are being partisan—this is a very good occasion when the reality is not that.
I was in business for most of my adult life before first coming to this place, and I did not really think about this issue. When I first started to consider the Bill, I remembered an occasion when it was brought to my attention that someone had had a bereavement. I just said, not because I am particularly humanitarian or perfect but as anyone would say, “Take as much time as you need.” I think that the vast majority of employers do say that. Before there was statutory sick pay, statutory holiday pay and so on, I am sure that a lot of employers, even in the 19th century, just did what they thought was the right thing—for example, the non-conformists building houses in Bournville and elsewhere. Employers always have been, and certainly are in the present day, far more responsible than just relying on the minimum in law. However, it is our place to make laws to provide that basic minimum—not to insult those who do the right thing but to provide a safety net, or catch-all, for the employees of those who do not. Quite clearly, there are those who do not, and they should be ashamed of themselves, frankly.
Not every employer is like BT or a firm with tens of thousands of employees. My hon. Friend the Member for South Suffolk (James Cartlidge) mentioned that he had a business with only two or three employees. That makes things much more difficult and employers have to be much more flexible. Big firms can make proper arrangements, and often do indeed have them. I have
come across many cases of companies that have very responsible policies on this kind of thing, far and above what the law would provide, because that is the right thing for their employees.
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The political bit, I suppose, is that this was a manifesto commitment, but I think we all agree that it is the right thing to do. The navigation, as it is called, of the Bill has been by my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake). He and I are latterly baton holders, to use an expression used before. I have not been known for my skill in relay races, but I am doing my best.
A number of amendments have been tabled for discussion, and I want to try to add to that discussion and give my response. Members have been very responsible in their contributions, saying that they have tabled amendments but explaining that they do not want to endanger the Bill by making anything other than constructive suggestions. I have learned through experience with my own private Member’s Bill and with Bills that I have dealt with as a Minister that everything is more complex than it first appears. Things might seem simple and we can all agree on them at the beginning, but when Members of this place and the other place consider them, we find that the devil is in the detail. That is the problem that Government and Parliament have to face all the time in a democracy. It would be easy just to have edicts and say, “That’s it—that’s what you’re doing,” but we have to try, through consultations and listening to both sides of the House, to improve the Bill without endangering what was originally intended, which is the most important thing.
I will begin with amendments 1, 2, 12 and 14, which concern the definition of a “bereaved parent” for leave and pay. On the surface, a bereaved parent is a bereaved parent. Without having to go into the detail of an Act of Parliament, it is very clear what a bereaved parent is. Of course, it is much more complicated than that. Amendments 1, 2, 12 and 14 address similar points, so I will try to cover them all together.
It is important that the Bill is seen as an enabling framework, which has the advantage of allowing time to be taken to get the necessary details right. That is not to say that time is wasted in considering those details, or that Government should merely wait to see what happens with the passage of the Bill before we take further steps—quite the opposite. In Committee, my colleague the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committed to publishing a consultation to look at key aspects of this policy. Consultations have got a bit of a bad name. Some of the more popular press say that it is just an excuse for the Government not to take a decision.