On 01 July 2025 the UK Government issued a Press Release entitled ‘Landmark Review of Parental Leave Launched’. This promised that the review ‘will look at all types of leave – including maternity, paternity and shared parental leave – to make the system fairer and easier to use’.
As ICB has indicated, this review is not a surprise and the Labour Party’s ‘Make Work Pay’ document published ahead of the 2024 General Election, said ‘we will conduct a review of parental leave within the first year of a Labour government’.
Now the review is upon us and we may want to make our voices heard in the Call for Evidence. So, ICB details the relevant links for you:
Parental leave and pay review: summary of existing evidence
This document a series of statistics on parental leave and pay from several different sources. For example:
- Data on the number of births in Great Britain from The Office for National Statistics (ONS); and
- Details from The Parental Rights Survey (PRS) showing awareness of parental leave and pay in general
This should be regarded as a document that justifies the need for a review of parental leave. Whilst the document overtly says that this applies in Great Britain only, the absence of information from Northen Ireland does not make this a UK-wide evidence document. There is also confusion about the status employment law jurisdiction, the basis for all parental leave:
- In one place, the document says that this is ‘reserved’ for Northern Ireland. This is incorrect as a reserved matter is where legislative authority rests with Westminster and the UK Government but the Northern Ireland Assembly can legislate to mirror this, for example with National Insurance;
- In another place, the document says that employment law is devolved to Northern Ireland. This is correct, although the strict terminology is that powers have been ‘transferred’ (from Westminster to Belfast)
This document is clear that the Call for Evidence will focus on Great Britain. Although, the UK Government has indicated that where it wants to legislate on issues that are devolved / transferred, they will work with their counterparts to share best practice and align effort. This is good, as statutory payments operate, generally, the same UK-wide.
Parental leave and pay review: call for evidence
This is the document that requests employers and individuals to submit responses to form a UK Government strategy. The Call is open until 26 August 2025.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) prefer online responses to the questions. This online Call is being carried out on a separate website.
ICB believes it is very important that our voices are heard in this Call for Evidence. Perhaps, the voice of the bookkeeper / agent is not always heard as forcefully as it should given that we are acting, in the main, for small and medium enterprises (up to 250 employees). If there are to be future changes to employment law:
- It is bookkeepers / agents that will be impacted most by administrative amendments; and
- It is the small and medium enterprises (SME) that will be most impacted by any increased costs
For Bookkeepers
There is absolutely nothing wrong with submitting more than one response. For example, you mat have given your view to a professional body who will use that to form the basis if your response. However, you can make another representation as an individual or a practice.
The UK Government has asked for our opinions in this wide-ranging Call for Evidence and ICB urges members to express their thoughts. Note that while the DWP and DBT prefer online responses, you can use the E-Mail ParentalLeaveReview@businessandtrade.gov.uk if:
- You would like to respond via email
- You have other enquiries specifically relating to this call for evidence
