Paid paternity leave for police in England and Wales to double

Paid parental and adoption leave for police officers across England and Wales is being doubled from one week to two, with fathers' entitlement brought in line with mothers'. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the change after the Guardian reported last year that officers had been mocked and ostracised for taking time off to be with newborns.

Before the change, only a quarter of forces offered two full weeks' pay, with the rest paying full salary for just the first week and statutory pay for the second. As a result, only 40% of officers at those forces took the second week, compared with 88% where full pay was available for both weeks. Civilian staff at the Metropolitan Police were already entitled to three weeks of fully paid paternity leave.

Policing minister Sarah Jones said officers work tirelessly to protect the public, so it is right that new fathers are better supported to spend time with their families.

Pressure for wider reform

The change has increased pressure to improve paternity leave elsewhere in the public sector. Conservative peer Joanna Penn has tabled an amendment to the armed forces bill that would triple military paternity leave to six weeks. A government survey found nearly 30% of armed forces families were separated for more than three months in the past year, while a Dad Shift survey found more than 95% of serving parents felt the current offer was inadequate.

Campaigners, backed by members of the women and equalities select committee, are pushing for six weeks of paternity leave paid at 90% of salary. The UK's current statutory paternity leave of two weeks, paid at about £184 a week, ranks among the worst in Europe, and roughly one in three fathers takes no leave at all after a birth. An 18-month government review of the parental leave system is due to report in December.