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Extended paternity leave rejected | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
The government has rejected Children's Minister Beverley Hughes' call to extend paternity leave to four weeks. | |
A DTI spokesman said the current two-week period struck the "right balance" - and Mrs Hughes had not been setting out government policy. | |
Mrs Hughes earlier pulled out of a speech in which she was due to explain her proposals in more detail. | |
Her office said she was suffering from food poisoning and was keen to reschedule the event. | |
The Department of Trade and Industry said there were no plans to change government policy on paternity leave. | |
"Two weeks is the right balance between allowing fathers to spend time with their babies and the needs of their employers," said a spokesman. | |
He added: "We have not seen any persuasive evidence to change the policy." | |
A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills, where Mrs Hughes is a junior minister, said she had been speaking in her capacity as an MP and not a minister. | |
'New ideas' | |
But the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), seen as the leading New Labour think tank, insisted the idea was being taken seriously by incoming prime minister Gordon Brown. | |
I think Beverley Hughes is taken seriously by Mr Brown and his allies and they are open to new ideas IPPR spokesman | |
An IPPR spokesman said: "Brown is looking for new ideas. | |
"I don't think you will see a change of policy in the next few weeks, but with a change of prime minister the next phase of social policy is going to be developed. | |
"I think Beverley Hughes is taken seriously by Brown and his allies and they are open to new ideas." | |
The think tank says its research shows children with an actively involved father have better behaviour and improved attainment at school. | |
There is also evidence that where fathers play an active role at home there is a knock on effect on the quality and stability of the relationship between parents, the IPPR says. | |
'Proud' | |
Mrs Hughes is one of five ministers to have written a chapter in a collection of essays to be published by the IPPR on Labour's future, including Ed and David Miliband, Hilary Benn and Ed Balls - all seen as rising stars in a Brown government. | |
She had been due to set out her proposals at an IPPR conference in Manchester on Friday. | |
She was due to call for the rates of maternity and paternity pay to be increased and all jobs to be advertised as part-time, job-share or flexi-time unless there is a sound business case not to. | |
Writing in the IPPR pamphlet, she said: "I am proud that the government has already extended maternity leave and introduced paid paternity leave, but we must go further. | |
"It is not government's job to bring up children, but there is more we can do to help parents to realise their aspirations and do the best they can for their children." | |
Business warning | |
Fathers who wanted to "play an active role in their child's life" were not being encouraged enough by their employers, she added. | |
She said doubling the length of paternity leave and paying it at a higher rate "will help thousands of dads from all backgrounds to be there for their children in those crucial early weeks". | |
But business leaders have urged ministers to tread carefully before imposing new burdens on firms. | |
John Cridland, deputy director general of the CBI, said: "While employers have worked hard to implement recent changes, doubling paid paternity leave as part of a very long wish list would be a step too far. | |
"We must remember that businesses still have to get the job done." |