Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many male staff of his Department have taken shared paternal leave; and the average length of that leave was.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) implemented the Shared Parental Leave Policy in April 2015. Since the policy was introduced, 12 males have taken Shared Parental Leave and the average length of leave was 3.5 months. Uptake of Shared Parental Leave has increased each year since the policy was launched.

Shared Parental Leave can give parents more flexibility in how they share the care of their child in the first year following birth or adoption. Working closely with the Parent's Network, DCMS is actively promoting SPL including having all policy and guidance on the intranet available for all staff to view in order to encourage staff to consider using the flexibility.