Model motion to adopt parental leave – Full Council

Information on the model motion to adopt parental leave - full council.


This Council notes:

  • That data released by the Fawcett Society shows that only 34 per cent of councillors elected in the bumper May 2021 local elections are women, meaning that only 35 per cent of councillors overall are women. The data shows that if this continues at a similar rate, we won’t reach equality in local government until 2077;
  • As of February 2022, only 33 out of 111 Labour councils and only 33 out of 152 Labour Groups in opposition are led by women;
  • As of February 2022, 33 councils have passed the LGA Labour Group’s Parental Leave policy, and an additional 7 councils have their own parental leave policy in place. Almost 40 Labour Groups have passed the Labour Group parental leave policy;
  • In 2019, the LGA co-produced the 21st Century Councils Equalities Toolkit with MHCLG. The toolkit recommends that councils adopt a parental leave policy, and they link to the LGA Labour’s Parental Leave policy as a model to adopt;
  • That the equalities section of the Labour Party Democracy Review mandates all Labour councils and Labour Groups to introduce a parental leave policy for to cover their group and their council as applicable;
  • That the role of a councillor should be open to all, regardless of their background, and that introducing a parental leave policy is a step towards encouraging a wider range of people to become councillors, and is also a step to encourage existing councillors who may want to start a family to remain as councillors;
  • That parental leave must apply to parents regardless of their gender, and that it should also cover adoption leave to support those parents who choose to adopt.

This Council resolves:

  • To adopt the parental leave policy drafted by the LGA Labour Group’s Women’s Taskforce to give all councillors an entitlement to parental leave after giving birth or adopting;
  • To ensure that councillors with children and other caring commitments are supported as appropriate;
  • To notify the LGA Labour Group that this council has passed a motion at full council to adopt the parental leave policy.