Councillors granted maternity leave after city vote
AUTHORITY AGREES TO REMOVE THE ‘BARRIER’ TO NEW PARENTS
COUNCILLORS in Newcastle will now be guaranteed maternity and paternity leave after a landmark vote.
Newcastle City Council representatives previously had no rights to parental leave, which critics complained was a serious barrier to getting many people – particularly women – involved in local politics. But the authority agreed to back new rights for councillors who become parents at Wednesday night’s full council meeting.
Under the newly-adopted policy, new mothers will be entitled to up to six months of maternity leave – with the option to extend up to a 52 weeks if needed – and fathers will get a minimum of two weeks. Any councillor who adopts a child will also be entitled to up to a year’s leave, and the policy ensures that all members will continue to receive the full allowance paid to them by the council.
Labour cabinet member Kim McGuinness, who proposed the policy to the council, said that having a child “should not be a barrier to serving as a councillor or taking on extra responsibility within the council”.
However, the city’s Liberal Democrat opposition refused to support the proposal. Coun Wendy Taylor said she was
“not convinced this is the answer” and had never encountered a prospective councillor who felt unable to stand because of the council’s lack of parental leave.
Lib Dem leader Anita Lower added that the problem she had experienced as a councillor with children was around childcare provision rather than maternity leave. She said: “I don’t think this addresses the real issues facing councillors with children.”
Coun McGuinness pointed out that the plans had won backing from Liberal Democrats at the Local Government Association (LGA) when they were drafted by the LGA Labour Group’s Women’s Taskforce.
The policy also won cross-party support at Sunderland City Council last November.
Coun McGuinness said: “Nobody said this was going to solve all the barriers to women and anybody else entering politics.
“Nobody said it was the be all and end all. It is one thing that we have the power to fix tonight and I suggest we go ahead and do it.”
Her Labour colleague Oskar Avery added: “Even if there is more we could be doing, and I am sure there is, this is a positive step. “We have lost councillors who have become parents or are going to become parents.” The motion was approved with 48 votes in favour, two against, and 11 abstentions.