Children and Families Bill (HL Bill 32)

(2) A business plan must cover a period of at least 12 months beginning
with the date of publication.

(3) The Commissioner must publish a new business plan before the end of
20the period covered by the preceding business plan.

(4) Before publishing a business plan under this section, the Children’s
Commissioner must—

(a) take reasonable steps to consult children,

(b) consult persons who (taken together) represent a broad range of
25interests which are relevant to the Children’s Commissioner’s
functions, and

(c) consult such other persons as the Commissioner thinks
appropriate.

(5) The Children’s Commissioner must for the purposes of subsection
30(4)(a) have particular regard to children who are within section 8A
(children living away from home or receiving social care) and other
groups of children who the Commissioner considers do not have
adequate means by which they can make their views known.”

85 Annual reports

(1) 35Section 8 of the Children Act 2004 (annual reports) is amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1)—

(a) in paragraph (a) omit “under this Part, other than functions of holding
inquiries”,

(b) after paragraph (a) insert “and”, and

(c) 40omit paragraph (c) and the “and” which precedes it.

(3) In subsection (2) for the words from “an account” to the end substitute “—

(a) a summary of the Commissioner’s activities and an analysis of
the effectiveness of those activities in promoting and protecting
the rights of children,

(b) 5an account of what the Commissioner has done in the discharge
of his or her functions in relation to children who are within
section 8A (children living away from home or receiving social
care), and

(c) an account of the steps taken by the Commissioner to involve
10children in the discharge of his or her functions.”

(4) In subsection (3)(b) for “the Secretary of State” substitute “the Commissioner”.

(5) In subsection (4) for “the Secretary of State has laid” substitute “laying”.

(6) For subsection (5) substitute—

“(5) If the Children’s Commissioner does not consider a report made under
15this section to be suitable for children, the Commissioner must publish
a version of the report which is suitable for children.”

86 Children living away from home or receiving social care

After section 8 of the Children Act 2004 insert—

“8A Children in England living away from home or receiving social care

(1) 20For the purposes of this Part, a child is within this section if he or she is
within any of subsections (2) to (5).

(2) A child is within this subsection if he or she is provided with
accommodation by a school or college in England to which section 87(1)
of the Children Act 1989 applies.

(3) 25A child is within this subsection if he or she is accommodated in an
establishment (within the meaning of the Care Standards Act 2000) in
respect of which Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education,
Children’s Services and Skills is the registration authority under
section 5 of that Act.

(4) 30A child is within this subsection if functions are being exercised in
relation to him or her by an agency (within the meaning of the Care
Standards Act 2000) in respect of which Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector
of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is the registration authority
under section 5 of that Act.

(5) 35A child is within this subsection if a local authority in England exercises
social services functions (within the meaning of the Local Authority
Social Services Act 1970) in relation to him or her.

(6) For the purposes of this Part, a person who is not a child is to be treated
as a child who is within this section if—

(a) 40he or she is aged 18 or over and under 25, and

(b) a local authority in England has provided services to him or her
under any of sections 23C to 24D of the Children Act 1989 at any
time after he or she reached the age of 16.”

87 Children’s Commissioner: minor and consequential amendments

Schedule 5 (minor and consequential amendments to Part 1 of the Children Act
2004 and to other Acts) has effect.

88 Repeal of requirement to appoint Children’s Rights Director

(1) 5Section 120 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 (requirement to appoint
Children’s Rights Director) is repealed.

(2) In that Act—

(a) in section 117 (performance of functions of the Office for Standards in
Education, Children’s Services and Skills), in subsection (2) after
10paragraph (a) insert—

“(aa) any matters raised by the Children’s Commissioner
with the Office or the Chief Inspector;”, and

(b) in section 119 (performance of the functions of the Chief Inspector of
Education, Children’s Services and Skills), in subsection (3) after
15paragraph (a) (and before the “and” which follows it) insert—

“(aa) any matters raised by the Children’s Commissioner
with the Chief Inspector;”.

(3) Schedule 6 (transfers of staff and property in consequence of the repeal of the
requirement to appoint a Children’s Rights Director) has effect.

20Part 6 Statutory rights to leave and pay

Shared parental leave

89 Shared parental leave

(1) In Part 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, after section 75D there is
25inserted—

“Chapter 1B

Shared parental leave

75E Entitlement to shared parental leave: birth

(1) The Secretary of State may make regulations entitling an employee who
satisfies specified conditions—

(a) as to duration of employment,

(b) 30as to being, or expecting to be, the mother of a child,

(c) as to caring or intending to care, with another person (“P”), for
the child,

(d) as to entitlement to maternity leave,

(e) as to the exercise of that entitlement and the extent of any such
35exercise,

(f) as to giving notice of an intention to exercise an entitlement to
leave under this subsection, and

(g) as to the consent of P to the amount of leave under this
subsection that the employee intends to take,

to be absent from work on leave under this subsection for the purpose
of caring for the child.

(2) 5Regulations under subsection (1) may provide that the employee’s
entitlement is subject to the satisfaction by P of specified conditions—

(a) as to employment or self-employment,

(b) as to having earnings of a specified amount for a specified
period,

(c) 10as to caring or intending to care, with the employee, for the
child, and

(d) as to relationship with the child or the employee.

(3) Provision under subsection (1)(f) may require the employee to give
notice to the employer about—

(a) 15the amount of leave to which the employee would be entitled if
the entitlement were fully exercised (disregarding for these
purposes any intention of P to exercise an entitlement to leave
under subsection (4) or to statutory shared parental pay);

(b) how much of the entitlement to leave the employee intends to
20exercise;

(c) the extent to which P intends to exercise an entitlement to leave
under subsection (4) or to statutory shared parental pay.

(4) The Secretary of State may make regulations entitling an employee who
satisfies specified conditions—

(a) 25as to duration of employment,

(b) as to relationship with a child or expected child or with the
child’s mother,

(c) as to caring or intending to care, with the child’s mother, for the
child,

(d) 30as to giving notice of an intention to exercise an entitlement to
leave under this subsection, and

(e) as to the consent of the child’s mother to the amount of leave
under this subsection that the employee intends to take,

to be absent from work on leave under this subsection for the purpose
35of caring for the child.

(5) Regulations under subsection (4) may provide that the employee’s
entitlement is subject to the satisfaction by the child’s mother of
specified conditions—

(a) as to employment or self-employment,

(b) 40as to having earnings of a specified amount for a specified
period,

(c) as to caring or intending to care, with the employee, for the
child,

(d) as to entitlement (or lack of entitlement) to maternity leave,
45statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance, and

(e) as to the exercise of any such entitlement and the extent of any
such exercise.

(6) Provision under subsection (4)(d) may require the employee to give
notice to the employer about—

(a) the amount of leave to which the employee would be entitled if
the entitlement were fully exercised (disregarding for these
purposes any intention of the child’s mother to exercise an
entitlement to leave under subsection (1) or to statutory shared
5parental pay);

(b) how much of the entitlement to leave the employee intends to
exercise;

(c) the extent to which the child’s mother intends to exercise an
entitlement to leave under subsection (1) or to statutory shared
10parental pay.

75F Entitlement to leave under section 75E: further provision

(1) Regulations under section 75E are to include provision for
determining—

(a) the amount of leave under section 75E(1) or (4) to which an
15employee is entitled in respect of a child;

(b) when leave under section 75E(1) or (4) may be taken.

(2) Provision under subsection (1)(a) is to secure that the amount of leave
to which an employee is entitled in respect of a child does not exceed—

(a) in a case where the child’s mother became entitled to maternity
20leave, the relevant amount of time reduced by—

(i) where her maternity leave ends without her ordinary or
additional maternity leave period having been curtailed
by virtue of section 71(3)(ba) or 73(3)(a), the amount of
maternity leave taken by the child’s mother, or

(ii) 25except where sub-paragraph (i) applies, the amount of
time between the beginning of her maternity leave and
the time when her ordinary or additional maternity
leave period, as curtailed by virtue of section 71(3)(ba)
or 73(3)(a), comes to an end;

(b) 30in a case where the child’s mother became entitled to statutory
maternity pay or maternity allowance but not maternity leave,
the relevant amount of time reduced by an amount determined
in accordance with paragraph (a) or, as the case may be,
paragraph (b) of section 171ZU(6) of the Social Security
35Contributions and Benefits Act 1992.

(3) In subsection (2) “the relevant amount of time” means an amount of
time specified in or determined in accordance with regulations under
section 75E.

(4) Provision under subsection (1)(a) is to secure that the amount of leave
40that an employee is entitled to take in respect of a child takes into
account—

(a) in a case where another person is entitled to leave under section
75E in respect of the child, the amount of such leave taken by the
other person;

(b) 45in a case where another person is entitled to statutory shared
parental pay in respect of the child but not leave under section
75E, the number of weeks in respect of which such pay is
payable to the other person.