Recommendations & Conclusions
10 items
2
Recommendation
First Report: The impact of Covid-19 on…
Rejected
As a matter of urgency the Government should consider whether Maternity Allowance should be considered as earnings in the same way as Statutory Maternity Pay and should not lead to deductions from Universal Credit.
Government response AI summary
The government rejects changing the treatment of Maternity Allowance within Universal Credit, explaining it is considered unearned income and thus deducted pound-for-pound, unlike Statutory Maternity Pay which is treated as earnings.
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3
Recommendation
First Report: The impact of Covid-19 on…
Rejected
Parental leave and pay are not unique in having different provisions for employed and self-employed people, and this is just one area of a complex benefit system. It is however apparent that many of the inequalities are not a reflection of differing circumstances, but more of an oversight by successive …
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Parental leave and pay are not unique in having different provisions for employed and self-employed people, and this is just one area of a complex benefit system. It is however apparent that many of the inequalities are not a reflection of differing circumstances, but more of an oversight by successive governments. In the case of self- employed adoptive parents, and all special guardians, they are getting less support than others. That the current entitlements have been added over a number of years may explain some of these disparities, but it does not remove the challenges posed. There are some discrepancies in the current provisions for parental leave that should be addressed: these include provisions for neonatal leave; self-employed adoptive parents and special guardians. Benefits for self-employed adoptive parents should be equalised to those of other self-employed parents, and parental leave and pay provisions should be extended to special guardians. (Paragraph 22) Support for new parents during Covid-19
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Government response AI summary
The government implicitly rejects equalising benefits for self-employed adoptive parents, explaining existing different provisions and discretionary local authority payments. For special guardians, it defers action, stating it has consulted on parental leave reforms and will respond in due course.
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7
Recommendation
First Report: The impact of Covid-19 on…
Rejected
In addition to the immediate financial consequences for pregnant women of being put on Statutory Sick Pay or unpaid leave—often when they should have been suspended on full pay—in many cases the loss of income that results can also mean women lose their rights to Statutory Maternity Pay. This is …
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In addition to the immediate financial consequences for pregnant women of being put on Statutory Sick Pay or unpaid leave—often when they should have been suspended on full pay—in many cases the loss of income that results can also mean women lose their rights to Statutory Maternity Pay. This is unacceptable. Nor should anyone having to spend a period on Statutory Sick Pay or unpaid leave due to following guidelines to isolate, including the new track and trace policy, be penalised for their compliance. The Government was able to amend the Statutory Maternity Pay calculations to disregard the lower income of periods on furlough. We recommend the Government should also do so for women whose incomes have fallen through no fault of their own because their employers have failed to follow the Government’s guidance on how pregnant women should be treated.
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Government response AI summary
The government rejects the recommendation to amend Statutory Maternity Pay calculations to disregard lower income periods from Statutory Sick Pay or unpaid leave, stating that while adjustments were made for furlough, SSP is not a new situation and there are no plans to change its …
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9
Recommendation
First Report: The impact of Covid-19 on…
Rejected
The Government’s decision to reject the request to extend maternity leave has been hugely disappointing to the hundreds of thousands of people who have signed this petition. In these extraordinary circumstances, where the Government has taken exceptional action to support different groups of people, we believe that extending maternity leave …
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The Government’s decision to reject the request to extend maternity leave has been hugely disappointing to the hundreds of thousands of people who have signed this petition. In these extraordinary circumstances, where the Government has taken exceptional action to support different groups of people, we believe that extending maternity leave would be a proportionate action to take, in line with the support provided through the CJRS and SEISS. We support the call of more than 226,000 petitions and urge the Government to reconsider its decision not to extend parental leave and pay for families during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Government response AI summary
The government rejects the recommendation to extend parental leave and pay, citing the significant cost to the Exchequer and the additional burden on businesses at a challenging time.
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13
Recommendation
First Report: The impact of Covid-19 on…
Rejected
Free dental care is an important benefit that most pregnant and new mothers have been unable to access as the result of the pandemic. The Government should extend maternity dentist provision for new and expectant mothers affected by the pandemic for at least six months, so new mothers have the …
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Free dental care is an important benefit that most pregnant and new mothers have been unable to access as the result of the pandemic. The Government should extend maternity dentist provision for new and expectant mothers affected by the pandemic for at least six months, so new mothers have the opportunity to access this important benefit. (Paragraph 59) Parental mental health
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Government response AI summary
The government rejects extending free maternity dental provision for new and expectant mothers, stating it has no plans to extend existing charge exemptions at this time, while noting routine dentistry has restarted.
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15
Recommendation
First Report: The impact of Covid-19 on…
Rejected
Adoptive parents and their children have faced uniquely challenging situations without the access to the professional and informal support that they need. These children are among the most vulnerable in society. In the most serious situations, we’ve heard that the negative impacts of Covid-19 could lead to an increase in …
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Adoptive parents and their children have faced uniquely challenging situations without the access to the professional and informal support that they need. These children are among the most vulnerable in society. In the most serious situations, we’ve heard that the negative impacts of Covid-19 could lead to an increase in adoption breakdown which would be devastating for parents and children. The 60 The impact of Covid-19 on maternity and parental leave extension of adoption leave with pay would give these new parents the opportunity to access some of the support they’ve missed out on as lockdown restrictions are eased. It will also give them valuable time to establish important routines and to bond with their children, as well as time to settle their children into new childcare or schools and introduce them to their wider adoptive families. The Government should extend adoption leave and pay for adoptive parents who have been affected by the pandemic for three months.
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Government response AI summary
The government rejected the recommendation to extend adoption leave and pay, stating that existing entitlements of 52 weeks leave and 39 weeks pay, along with other flexible working options, are already generous and sufficient for new parents.
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16
Recommendation
First Report: The impact of Covid-19 on…
Rejected
The Government’s response to this inquiry so far has not addressed the immediate situation faced by self-employed adoptive parents as a result of Covid-19. A future review, although welcome, may not come in time for this cohort of parents and children who desperately need additional support. Adoptive parents spend a …
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The Government’s response to this inquiry so far has not addressed the immediate situation faced by self-employed adoptive parents as a result of Covid-19. A future review, although welcome, may not come in time for this cohort of parents and children who desperately need additional support. Adoptive parents spend a huge amount of time planning their leave period carefully so that their children and new families can have the very best start. No-one was able to plan for Covid-19. These parents are looking after some of the most vulnerable children in our society and need help as a matter of urgency. The Government should consider equalising the benefits for self-employed adoptive parents to those of other self-employed parents. This could be a pilot scheme for those who became new parents during the pandemic to inform the Government’s wider review on parental leave.
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Government response AI summary
The government rejects the recommendation to equalise benefits for self-employed adoptive parents, explaining that maternity entitlements have health and safety considerations for birth mothers that do not apply to adopters. It notes that local authorities can already consider discretionary, means-tested payments.
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18
Recommendation
First Report: The impact of Covid-19 on…
Rejected
We welcome the Government’s recognition that special neonatal leave and pay should be introduced for all parents who find themselves in this situation. The Government plans to include provisions in its forthcoming Employment Bill to introduce this reform in 2023. In advance of the planned delivery of neonatal leave and …
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We welcome the Government’s recognition that special neonatal leave and pay should be introduced for all parents who find themselves in this situation. The Government plans to include provisions in its forthcoming Employment Bill to introduce this reform in 2023. In advance of the planned delivery of neonatal leave and pay in 2023, the Government should pilot the introduction of these reforms for those affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. If a success, the date of the general introduction of these measures could be brought forward.
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Government response AI summary
The government rejects piloting neonatal leave and pay for those affected by Covid-19, explaining that such a pilot would still require complex legislation and IT systems and would not be delivered any sooner than the planned full entitlement in 2023.
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6
Recommendation
Second Report - The impact of Covid-19 …
Rejected
The Government has put in place unprecedented financial support measures to respond to Covid-19, paying the salaries of hundreds of thousands of employees nationally, and funding grants and loans for a huge number of businesses and industries. These are exceptional actions, in exceptional circumstances. Given the importance of the higher …
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The Government has put in place unprecedented financial support measures to respond to Covid-19, paying the salaries of hundreds of thousands of employees nationally, and funding grants and loans for a huge number of businesses and industries. These are exceptional actions, in exceptional circumstances. Given the importance of the higher education sector to the UK economy, and the exceptional circumstances facing both universities and university students, the Government should consider providing additional funding to universities to enable them to pay any refunds university students are entitled to as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. The Government could also consider alternative means for reimbursing students, where an independent process has found that they are entitled to a refund, such as reducing student loans of students who are entitled to a refund. (Paragraph 31) Looking to the future
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Government response AI summary
The government rejects providing additional funding to universities for student refunds or reducing student loans as a reimbursement method. It reiterates that refunds are a matter for individual providers based on contractual arrangements and points to existing stabilisation packages for the sector.
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7
Recommendation
Second Report - The impact of Covid-19 …
Rejected
While it is too early to know what effect the Covid-19 outbreak will have on university courses in the next academic year, there will not be a return to business as usual. We hope that all universities will be able to effectively deliver every university course to the standard that …
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While it is too early to know what effect the Covid-19 outbreak will have on university courses in the next academic year, there will not be a return to business as usual. We hope that all universities will be able to effectively deliver every university course to the standard that students are entitled, but if this is not the case students whose courses are affected by the Covid-19 outbreak in the next academic year should have the same easily accessible recourse to seek a refund or to repeat part of their course that we have recommended should apply to students in the current academic year. Any new arrangements that are put in place to better enable students to access refunds for tuition fees, where they believe they are not receiving the education they are entitled to, should be available to all students whose courses are affected by the Covid-19 outbreak in future academic years.
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Government response AI summary
The government confirms that any actions taken regarding student refunds or course repeats will apply to students in the 2020/21 academic year, thereby rejecting the recommendation for such arrangements to extend to students affected by COVID-19 in future academic years.
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