Public life and parental leave must be open to all. Yet, MPs still do not have automatic access to formal maternity leave.
Centenary Action has signed a joint letter from Stella Creasy MP, calling on the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) to follow the law on maternity cover, and to ensure that new mothers are not prevented from participation in political life as an MP.
Thank you @PregnantScrewed @fawcettsociety @CentenaryAction @MumsnetTowers @ProspectUnion @PaddyLillisGS @cmcanea @CommunityUnion @LittleVillageHQ and over 30 orgs for standing up for the maternity rights of women and calling on @ipsaUK to rethink its policy! pic.twitter.com/c8F2YiShZl
— stellacreasy (@stellacreasy) June 29, 2021
Stella Creasy has been told by IPSA, the body that regulates MPs’ pay and expenses, that she cannot appoint a locum to provide full maternity cover, despite having done so when she was pregnant in 2019.
Earlier this year, the government passed the Ministerial and Other Maternity Allowances Bill, which gives the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition the power to provide six months maternity leave on full pay to government ministers and some of the shadow cabinet.
However there is still no formal provision for MPs to take parental leave, with MPs such as Stella who have tried to get maternity cover being let down. Read the statement we coordinated in February 2021 here.
Centenary Action is calling for there to be a uniform and automatic right to parental, adoption, and caring leave for MPs. It’s time for Parliament to recognise and fulfil its responsibilities, and to ensure the two tier system for maternity cover does not persist.