Brian Wilson hails new approach to support working parents

07 Dec 2000

Nearly 670,000 Scottish parents set to benefit

Innovative proposals to give more help to new parents and greater support to their employers were welcomed today by Scotland Office Minister Brian Wilson.

Commenting on the publication of the "Work and Parents: Competitiveness and Choice" Green Paper, Mr Wilson said:

"I urge employees, employers, and organisations throughout Scotland to respond positively to this consultation and to contribute to the debate that these proposals will surely stimulate.

"It is easy to see that the demands of work have increased dramatically over recent years, but help for working parents and families has not kept pace with the changes. The Government is determined to help parents with children fulfil their responsibilities at work and maintain a positive and enjoyable homelife.

"These proposals are not about imposing additional burdens on business - I understand that businesses need to remain competitive. The proposals provide greater help for business by simplifying existing legislation and by providing more targeted support and better advice and guidance. I don’t believe we need to make a choice between helping families or helping businesses. Getting it right means that we can support parents and enable business to reap the benefits of a happy and committed workforce which inevitably improves business performance.

"It’s not possible to take away all the strains from being a busy working parent but we do need a much more flexible working culture. This consultation aims to find out more about what working parents and employers need most. I believe that these proposals are an important step towards achieving a fair and lasting deal for parents working in a modern society.".

The Work and Parents: Competitiveness and ChoiceGreen Paper is published today by DTI following a comprehensive review of work and parents undertaken over the last six months. It sets out a range of options for consultation over the next three months. Options in the Green Paper include:

  • Two weeks paid paternity leave for fathers;
  • extending unpaid maternity leave so a woman could stay at home for a year;
  • sharing any increase on existing unpaid maternity leave equally between the mother and father;
  • increasing the flat rate of maternity pay - currently £60.20 per week, or lengthening the period maternity leave is paid to six months;
  • allowing an adoptive parent - either male or female - to take paid leave similar to maternity leave when adopting a child; and
  • increasing the amount of parental leave available to the parents of disabled children, currently 13 weeks.

The Green Paper also includes several options on flexible working either through legislation or incentives to business including:

  • Giving mothers who return early from maternity leave the right to work reduced hours for the rest of that time;
  • giving fathers the right to work reduced hours until the end of maternity leave;
  • allowing both parents the right to opt to work reduced hours for as long as they wish, when the maternity leave period ends;
  • giving all employers the right to refuse a request to work reduced hours if it would harm the business; and
  • exempting employers with a certain number of employees from granting any requests to work reduced hours, except for mothers for a short time.

NOTES FOR NEWS EDITORS

  1. There are 668,000 employee parents with dependent children under 16 in Scotland, comprising 33% of jobs.
  2. Not all of the proposals can be implemented. Over the next three months, the Government wants to hear from employees, employers and other interested groups on their top three priorities for action and their lowest three priorities.
  3. The review of maternity pay and parental leave was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the March 2000 Budget
  4. Stephen Byers has chaired a Ministerial Group to help co-ordinate the work of the review. Other members are: Baroness Jay, Andrew Smith, Lord Falconer, Tessa Jowell, Margaret Hodge, Baroness Hollis, Alan Johnson and David Irwin.
  5. The Ministerial Group has held 16 roundtable discussions with over 250 employers and employees across Great Britain including a meeting at the Scotland Office on 6 October.
  6. Copies of the Green Paper, accompanying summary document and the form for responses can be found at www.dti.gov.uk/er/review.htm or from the DTI Newsroom on 020 7215 5951 (media copies only).
  7. Responses to the consultation are requested by 7 March 2001 to: Review Team, Department of Trade and Industry, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET, Fax: 020 7215 5450, Email:reviewteam@dti.gov.uk.