Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many male staff of his Department have taken shared parental leave; and what the average length of that leave was.

Fourteen male members of staff have taken shared parental leave since the law was introduced in April 2015 at an average length of 108 days, or approximately four months.

Shared parental leave gives parents a real opportunity to enjoy the early months of childhood. It is a legal right and enables parents to swap some of their maternity or adoption leave and to take the rest more flexibly and as a couple. The Civil Service goes beyond the statutory minimum provision and offers an occupational rate of pay for some of this leave.