Clause 2 - Statutory paternity pay
Employment Bill
4:45 pm
Mr Mark Prisk (Hertford and Stortford, Conservative)
Having heard the Minister speak on many occasions in this Committee, I am always happy to give him the benefit of the doubt, but my suspicion is that this apparently innocuous subsection—on the back of the liabilities section of the Bill—may give the Secretary of State a range of powers that go beyond the intentions of employers groups, which have, to date, supported the Bill.
Although the Government speak eloquently and, I believe, genuinely about the importance of statutory maternity pay, the danger is that they might be limiting their financial liabilities in supporting that apparent commitment. I am sure that it is not the Minister's intention to be seen to be generous with other people's money. I support the amendment because it seeks to
define the state's liability, and provide a definition that includes direct pay costs and reflects the important and significant administrative costs that fall on small employers.
Debate adjourned.—[Mr. Pearson.]
Adjourned accordingly at one minute past Five o'clock till Tuesday 15 January at half-past Ten o'clock.