MP directly challenges Minister to deliver Adoption Pay

Local MP Lisa Smart directly challenged Government Minister Andrew Western over the inequalities in adoption pay which leave self-employed people without the same support that biological parents or employed people get. 

In a Westminster debate on the topic, the MP drew a promise from the Minister that it will be considered in an upcoming review into parental pay and parental leave.

Biological parents qualify for maternity allowance and employed adopters are eligible for statutory adoption pay, but self-employed adopters rely on discretionary payments that are only available in around one third of the country, and which they are often unaware of.

Lisa Smart MP said: “I urge the Minister and the various departments involved in this work to explore ways to provide financial support that acknowledges and mitigates these unique pressures placed on adoptive parents, self-employed or otherwise.

“We are talking about creating families for children in care, who are the most vulnerable in society. We need to remove any barriers that may stop people from being able to take up those opportunities.”

The MP for Hazel Grove constituency has already put forward an amendment to the forthcoming employment rights bill, which would change the law to support these self-employed individuals and couples who want to become families.

She added: ”We should not allow financial barriers to stand in the way of creating loving families and providing children with the stability they so desperately need and undoubtedly deserve.”