Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Accepted in Part
Simplify or remove Shared Parental Leave's complex eligibility criteria to widen access.
Recommendation
The Government must consider steps to address flaws in SPL, increase take up and widen access. The Government’s review must examine the function and necessity of SPL’s complex eligibility criteria, with a view to simplifying or removing the employment status, time in service and earnings criteria. Its objective for reforms of SPL must be to widen access to as broad a range of working parents as possible, including the self-employed and those on lower incomes. (Recommendation, Paragraph 92)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government commits to removing the requirement that Paternity Leave and Pay must be taken before Shared Parental Leave to offer more flexibility. However, the broader examination of SPL's complex eligibility criteria, with a view to simplifying or removing them and widening access, will be considered as part of the ongoing parental leave and pay review.
Government Response
The government responded to this report on 19 September 2025. No passage in that response could be matched to this recommendation. Read the response document ↗