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Ministerial And Other Maternity Allowances Act 2021

Contents

Commentary on provisions of Act

Section 1: Payment of maternity allowance: Ministerial office

  1. This section sets out that the Prime Minister can designate a holder of ministerial office as a ‘Minister on Leave’ for the purpose of paying them an allowance and the conditions which must be satisfied before a designation can take place.
  2. Subsection (1) provides the basis for a mother or expectant mother designated as a Minister on Leave to be paid an allowance under the Act.
  3. Subsection (2) specifies that, in order to be designated as a Minister on Leave, the mother or expectant mother must fulfil the conditions set out in subsection (3) and that that mother or expectant mother must have ceased to hold their previous ministerial office ("the first ministerial office") immediately before appointment to a designated ministerial office, as Minister on Leave.
  4. Subsection (2) further specifies that the mother or expectant mother so designated by the Prime Minister will remain a member of Her Majesty’s Government for the duration of their tenure as Minister on Leave, because they continue to hold ministerial office.
  5. Subsection (3) sets out the conditions which the mother or expectant mother in question must satisfy in order to be eligible for designation as a Minister on Leave by the Prime Minister, specified by reference to the anticipated, or actual, birth date of a child. These conditions are framed by reference to other legislative provisions on maternity leave, and provide that the Minister is eligible to be designated as Minister on Leave if:
    1. they are pregnant and the due date is no more than 12 weeks away;
    2. they have given birth within the last 4 weeks.
  6. Subsection (4) provides that a "child" for the purposes of subsection (3)(b) includes a still-born child within the meaning of section 41(1) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953.
  7. Subsection (5) defines "ministerial office" for the purposes of this Act as any of the ministerial offices specified in Parts 1 to 4 of Schedule 1 to the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975, as well as the office of Lord Chancellor, which is referred to elsewhere in that Act. This covers all Government ministers, including whips. It does not include Parliamentary Private Secretaries as they are not members of the Government.
  8. Subsection (6) sets out that a designation as Minister on Leave ends either automatically after a period of six months or earlier if the Minister on Leave ceases to hold the office, for example because they are appointed to a new ministerial role, resign or are dismissed. The maximum period for which an allowance may be paid to a Minister on maternity leave under this Act is therefore six months.

Section 2: Ministerial leave: amount and payment of allowance

  1. Section 2 sets out the amount of allowance that is to be paid to a Minister on Leave and the modalities of the payment of that allowance.
  2. Subsection (1) sets the allowance as being six times the monthly salary that the Minister on Leave received in their "first ministerial office", that is, as described in section 1(2)(b), the office they held immediately before being appointed to the designated ministerial office i.e, before being appointed as ‘Minister on Leave’. It also provides that the allowance is to be paid in six monthly instalments, subject to subsections (2) to (4).
  3. Subsection (2) provides that the allowance is only available where the Minister on Leave was in receipt of a salary in relation to their "first ministerial office". A Minister who was previously unpaid will not receive an allowance as a Minister on Leave.
  4. Subsection (3) states that where the Minister on Leave leaves the Government (i.e. is no longer a Minister) before the end of the six-month period, they are to receive the remainder of the allowance as a lump sum. This is because while a right to maternity leave for a Minister cannot be conferred, certainty of financial support for the duration of that maternity leave can be provided.
  5. Subsection (4) states that if the Minister on Leave ceases to be designated as such on account of being appointed to another ministerial office, or dying, the allowance is no longer payable and is reduced proportionately. In such cases, if there has been overpayment, subsection (4)(b) allows that any such overpayment may be recovered.
  6. Subsection (5) defines when the ‘6-month period’ for the purposes of this section begins.
  7. Subsection (6) sets out that the allowance is to be paid from either money provided by Parliament or is to be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated Fund, depending on how the payments made in respect of the "first ministerial office" as referred to in section 1(2)(b) were paid. With the exception of the Lord Chancellor, Ministers are paid from money provided by Parliament.

Section 3: Ministerial leave: other provision

  1. This section sets out how the arrangements made in this Act interact with the existing statutory arrangements relating to ministerial offices and ministerial pay.
  2. Subsection (1) provides that during the period of designation the Minister on Leave does not count for the purposes of the restriction set out in sections 2(1) and (2) of the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, which places a limit on the number of Ministers who can sit and vote in the House of Commons. Where a Minister is appointed as a Minister on Leave and this is in excess of the limit, they will not be subject to the consequences of non-compliance with the provisions of the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975.
  3. Subsection (2) re-applies the restriction in the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 at the end of designation. It provides that, if the Minister on Leave loses the designation by virtue of six months having elapsed, but has not ceased to hold the office, then they are to be considered to have commenced holding that office when the designation ended for the purposes of section 2(2) of the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975.
  4. Subsection (3) sets out that a Minister on Leave who is paid an allowance under this Act cannot also receive a salary under the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975.
  5. Subsection (4) provides that ceasing to hold the designated ministerial office as Minister on Leave makes the (former) holder of that office eligible for a loss of office payment under Section 4 of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, subject to the conditions specified in that Act. For the purposes of calculating the amount payable, the relevant salary is the annual salary that the former Minister received immediately before their appointment to the designated office.
  6. Subsection (5) provides that where a Minister is appointed to the designated ministerial office and is a Member of the House of Lords, they will not be eligible also to receive an allowance under section 5(1) of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 (allowance for ministerial and other office-holders in the House of Lords), sometimes known as the Lords Office Holder Allowance.

Section 4: Payment of maternity allowance: Opposition office

  1. This section enables payments to be made to a person providing cover for the holders of certain Opposition offices, where the office holder is on maternity leave.
  2. Subsection (1) provides the basis for the payment of the allowance.
  3. Subsection (2) identifies the Opposition offices for which an allowance may be paid and defines the term "Leader of the Opposition" in relation to both Houses for the purposes of this Act by reference to section 2(1) of the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975.
  4. Subsection (3) specifies that it is for the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons to make an appointment in relation to an office within subsection (2)(a) and that it is for the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords to make an appointment in relation to an office within the meaning of subsection (2)(b).
  5. Subsection (4) sets out that the initial appointment for the purposes of subsection (1) can only be made if the person making the appointment considers that the conditions in subsection (5) are satisfied.
  6. Subsection (5) sets out the conditions which must be satisfied before an appointment can be made for the purposes of subsection (1). These conditions are the same as those set out in section 1(3)(a) and (b).
  7. Subsection (6) allows more than one person to provide cover for an Opposition office holder during maternity leave, provided only one person is providing cover at any one time and the period of cover is no more than six months in total. It prevents an appointment for the purposes of subsection (1) from being made after the six-month period, starting with the day on which the initial appointment is made, has elapsed, and also prevents concurrent appointments during that period.
  8. Subsection (7) states that the reference to "child" for the purposes of subsection (5)(b) includes a still-born child within the meaning of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953.
  9. Subsection (8) sets out that any appointment under subsection (1) expires automatically after six months from the initial appointment or, if earlier, when it is terminated by the person who made the appointment.

Section 5: Opposition leave: amount and payment of allowance

  1. This section sets out the calculation of the allowance to be paid to a person pursuant to section 4(1) of this Act.
  2. Subsection (1) sets the rate of the allowance as being equivalent to the salary which is being paid to the holder of the Opposition office for whom the person appointed under this Act is providing cover. The allowance is paid in monthly instalments during the period of cover.
  3. Subsection (2) provides that the allowance ceases to be payable when the appointment ends and that any overpayment may be recouped.
  4. Subsection (3) provides that payments under this section are to be charged on and paid out of the Consolidated Fund. The salaries of these Opposition office holders are also paid out of the Consolidated Fund, under the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975.

Section 6: Opposition leave: other provision

  1. Subsection (1) provides that where an Opposition office holder in the House of Lords is on maternity leave, that person is not eligible for the Lords Office Holder Allowance (under section 5(1)(b) of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991); rather it is the person appointed to cover the maternity leave who is eligible for that allowance.
  2. Subsection (2) states that service as a covering person paid under section 4(1) of the Act is to be treated as if it were service as an Opposition office holder for the purposes of the provision in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 which allows those offices to be covered by the Ministerial Pension Scheme. No equivalent provision is needed to allow service as a Minister on Leave to be pensionable since that scheme is already open to them because of their ministerial status.

Section 7: Extent, commencement and short title

  1. Subsection (1) sets out the Act’s territorial extent, which extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
  2. Subsection (2) provides that the Act enters into force on the day that it receives Royal Assent.
  3. Subsection (3) provides that the short title of the Act is the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Act 2021.

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