MP’s move to improve help for bereaved parents
A YORKSHIRE MP is championing his Conservative colleague’s campaign to improve the support available to parents coping with the loss of a child after presenting a new Bill to Parliament.
The Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake hopes to succeed where Colchester MP Will Quince was defeated, as he brings forward legislation to introduce statutory leave and pay for bereaved families.
He is one of four Yorkshire MPs to present Private Members Bills yesterday, with Sir Greg Knight pushing for reforms to parking regulations and Stephanie Peacock calling for changes to employment rights.
Holly Lynch also tabled a bill to extend the National Living Wage to 18 year-olds, while her Labour colleague Chris Bryant will continue her campaign to crack down on violence against emergency services staff.
Mr Quince drew praise from MPs across the House in 2015 when he spoke out about his experience of losing a child in an effort to encourage ministers to improve access to bereavement suits in maternity units. Last year he took his campaign further, tabling a ten minute rule motion calling for the introduction of statutory pay and leave for parents who lose a child at a later stage.
Under current laws, a mother and father who lose a newborn are entitled to full maternity and paternity leave. The MP argued that it “cannot be right” that a father who loses a baby at birth is entitled to two weeks off work, but someone who loses a child at seven months or after a few years gets nothing.
Mr Quince’s bill failed to get a second reading, but Mr Hollinrake aims to introduce similar reforms under his Parental Bereavement Bill. He said he hoped the changes would give parents “time to grieve and put the building blocks in place to move on”.