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Closed Introduce neonatal leave and pay entitlement immediately

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The government has agreed to introduce neonatal leave and pay entitlement but not until April 2023, this is completely unacceptable & it needs implementing immediately.

Our baby was born in June 2021 at just 24 weeks gestation, he wasn't due until October, he was 16 weeks early.

We're now 30wks in hospital with many more months to come, 28 of these weeks was spent in NICU.

We are 7 months into 9 months statutory maternity pay & we have no idea how we will afford our bills once we lose this payment as 1 income doesn't cover them. My wife can't go back to work whilst our baby is still in hospital & has never been home. We can't claim disability or carers allowance as our baby has never left hospital since birth. We could lose everything after March due to this bill being delayed.

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  • Related activity

    MPs approve new laws on neonatal care leave and pay

    On 20 January, MPs agreed to approve new statutory leave and pay entitlements for parents who have children receiving neonatal care.

    The Bill is a Private Member's Bill, and was introduced by Stuart C McDonald MP.

    Read more about the measures proposed in the Bill in this House of Commons Library Research Briefing.

    What happens next?

    The Bill has now completed its stages in the House of Commons, and now goes to the House of Lords. The Bill must be approved by both Houses before it can become law. If the Bill is passed by Parliament, it will introduce two new rights: neonatal care leave and statutory neonatal care pay.

    You can keep up to date with progress of this Bill on the Bill's webpage.

    What is a Private Member's Bill?

    Private Members' Bills are Bills introduced by MPs who are not government ministers. They can be about any topic, but the main purpose can’t be to create a new tax or increase Government spending. Private Members' Bills must go through the same stages of consideration by Parliament before they can become law.

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  • Petition closed

  • Related activity

    MPs debate proposed new laws on neonatal leave and pay

    On Friday 15 July, MPs debated the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill in the main House of Commons chamber. This was a Second Reading debate, where MPs debate the general principles of a Bill (a proposed new set of laws).

    If the Bill is passed by Parliament, it will introduce new rights to neonatal care leave and statutory neonatal care pay, for employees whose children who spend at least a week in neonatal care after they are born.

    The Bill is a Private Member's Bill, and was introduced by Stuart McDonald MP. Responding for the Government, the Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets, Jane Hunt MP, confirmed that the Government will support the Bill.

    Read more about the measures proposed in the Bill in this House of Commons Library Research Briefing.

    What happens next?

    Having passed Second Reading, the Bill will now be sent to a Public Bill Committee, where a committee of MPs will scrutinise the Bill line by line. The dates for when a committee will consider the Bill are yet to be confirmed.

    Find out more about how committee stage works, and what happens after committee stage.

    You can keep up to date with progress of this Bill on the Bill's webpage.

    What is a Private Member's Bill?

    Private Members' Bills are Bills introduced by MPs who are not government ministers. They can be about any topic, but the main purpose can’t be to create a new tax or increase Government spending. Private Members' Bills must go through the same stages of consideration by Parliament before they can become law.

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  • Related activity

    MPs ask Government about its plans on new parents' employment rights

    The Petitions Committee has written to Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to ask for an update on the Government’s plans to enhance new parents’ employment rights.

    Read the Committee's letter: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/22398/documents/165348/default/

    The letter, from the Chair of the Committee Catherine McKinnell MP, asks the Government to clarify its plans to introduce entitlements to leave and pay for parents of babies receiving neonatal care, and to extend statutory redundancy protections for new and expectant mothers into the period after they return to work.

    Once the Committee has received the Government's reply, it will be available to view on the Committee's website: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/

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  • Related activity

    Neonatal leave and pay debated by MPs

    On Wednesday 9 February, Luke Hall MP led an adjournment debate in Parliament on neonatal leave and pay.

    Watch the debate, read the transcript and access other relevant material:
    https://ukparliament.shorthandstories.com/neonatal-leave-pay/index.html?utm_campaign=0222-cet-neonatalleavepay-petitioners&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petcom

    What are adjournment debates? 

    Any backbench MP can apply to hold an adjournment debate on any subject which the Government are responsible for, providing it does not call for legislation. MPs from all parties can take part, and a Government minister must respond in the debate.

    Adjournment debates take place at the end of each sitting day in the House of Commons Chamber and usually last for 30 minutes.

    They are held on the motion ‘that the House do now adjourn’. In other words, once the adjournment debate has finished, the House will close for the day.

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  • Petition published

    This petition can now be signed.

    If this petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it.

    If this petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

    This petition will stay open until 18 July 2022.