I am proud of the steps the previous Government took to improve paternity leave and support. Paternity Leave and Pay enables employed fathers and partners, including same-sex partners, to take up to two weeks leave during the first year following their child's birth or placement for adoption. The statutory weekly rate of Paternity Pay for 2025/26 is £187.18, or 90 per cent of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
However, following the previous Conservative Government's introduction of Shared Parental Leave and Pay, working parents can now share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay where the mother does not intend to use her full maternity leave. Moreover, following the passage of the Shared Parental Leave and Pay (Bereavement) Act, supported by the previous Government, the qualifying employment condition on taking Shared Parental Leave and Pay has been removed where the birth mother or adopting parent has died.
When it comes to the proposals within the Employment Rights Bill, we can already see the Bill is causing instability, uncertainty, and falling confidence, particularly amongst the 5.5m strong small business community. This Bill will tie businesses up in red tape and means having to deal with a new regulator, the Fair Work Agency, which will have the power to enter any business premises, confiscate documents, levy fines and even creates new criminal offences with prison sentences of up to two years.
The Government’s own impact assessment suggests the Bill could cost businesses up to £4.5 billion annually and could increase the number of strikes by 53 per cent. The public will pay the price – not just through uncollected waste, dysfunctional local government, and waves of low-threshold strike action, but also through higher taxes, lower wage growth and higher prices.
I am aware of the 'Protected paternity or parental partner leave' amendment and whilst it has good intentions, I do not believe it is right to impose yet more costs on business within this context, given that the UK already offers the fourth longest period of statutory maternity leave and the thirteenth longest statutory paternity leave globally. Right now, businesses are already having to cope with national insurance hikes, cuts to business rate relief, and a new family business ‘death tax’ under this Government. It is for this reason that the Conservative Party position is to oppose both the amendment and the Employment Rights Bill as a whole.
It is incredibly disappointing to see the impact the current Government is having on business confidence and our wider economy. While I would like to explore ways we can improve paternity support for new fathers, we have to make sure this is done in consultation with businesses and when the environment is right for measures to be introduced without risks of unintended consequences.
