Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2022 to Question 77313 on Parental Leave, and with reference to Table 7 of the 2013 Impact Assessment, why the employee fathers with a self-employed partner are not included in the number of new fathers eligible for Shared Parental Leave.

The 2013 Impact Assessment for Shared Parental Leave (SPL) estimated that take-up would be between 2-8 per cent based on Labour Force Survey analysis that 285,000 fathers/partners would be eligible, comprised of 267,000 employees and a further 17,000 self-employed fathers/partners. The reply to Question 77313 focused on employees only.

The SPL evaluation will also include an up-to-date estimate of eligibility and take-up.