Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, with reference to Action for Children's document entitled Where is child poverty increasing in the UK?, published on 17 April 2026, what steps he is taking to encourage flexible working arrangements that enable lone parents to enter and sustain employment.

The government is committed to improving access to flexible working and recognises it can be critical in enabling many lone parents to sustainably balance work and childcare responsibilities.

Through the Employment Rights Act, we are strengthening the flexible working framework by introducing a new process employers must follow before rejecting a request and a new reasonableness test requiring employers to explain the rationale for any refusal.

These changes will support more constructive and transparent discussions about flexible working and ultimately make it more likely that requests are accepted.