On Friday 20th January Selaine Saxby MP supported four Private Member’s Bills: Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill, Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill, Pensions Dashboards (Prohibition of Indemnification) Bill and the Shark Fins Bill.
Selaine said of Friday:
“I often feel that as MPs we do our best legislative work on Fridays, and it was a privilege to support families who require neonatal care, ensuring workers fairly receive their tips, strengthening pension security and the banning of the import and export of detached shark fins.
“North Devon is home to many fantastic hospitality businesses, and the sector supports 11,100 local jobs. When it first came to light that some unscrupulous businesses were withholding all or part of workers’ tips. I, like many others, was horrified that workers were losing out. I am delighted that workers in our vital hospitality sector now have reassurance that they have the legal right to their tips.
“As someone who grew up, and now once again lives along the coast, I was delighted to support the Shark Fins Bill. Protecting sharks is crucial to the health of our oceans, and it is fantastic that now we have left the EU the UK is leading the world on this issue. I have always enjoyed finding ‘mermaid’s purses’ which are actually shark and ray eggcases on my beach walks. You can help keep track of the UK’s shark populations by taking part in The Sharks Trust’s Great Eggcase Hunt, as you walk along the beach keep count of shark and ray’s eggcases and report it to The Shark Trust. You can find further information on the Eggcase Hunt at https://www.sharktrust.org/greateggcasehunt.”
When parliament sits on Fridays only Private Members Bills are debated in the house. These Bills are varied and cover a range of subjects, if they have the support of the House they progress through the legislative process and are eventually made into law. All four of the Bills last week received cross party support and passed through the House, they will now be presented to the House of Lords before receiving Royal Assent and being made into law.
The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill, brought by SNP MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch, East Stuart C McDonald, will apply to parents of children who spend at least one week in a neonatal unit and will give them the right to up to 12 extra weeks of paid neonatal care leave, on top of other parental entitlements.
The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill, brought by Conservative MP for Ynys Mon, Virginia Crosbie, will give workers the right to tips and prevent employers from withholding them. This will benefit millions of hospitality workers across the UK.
The Pensions Dashboards (Prohibition of Indemnification) Bill, brought by Conservative MP for Cheadle,Mary Robinson, will strengthen the Department for Work and Pension’s new online Pension Dashboards by making it a criminal offence for pension scheme managers or trustees to use the assets of these schemes to reimburse themselves should they incur penalties imposed under the pensions dashboard regulations.
The Shark Fins Bill, brought by Independent MP for Neath Christina Rees, will ban the import and export of detached shark fins, the ban will extend to the existing 20kg tax free personal allowance.
Selaine said:
“A few times a year I attend sitting Fridays, unlike the majority of parliamentary time sitting Fridays are an opportunity for backbench MPs to bring their own Private Member’s Bills to the House. Following the emergency legislation required to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the parliamentary time devoted to supporting Ukraine the legislative timetable is extremely tight. Sitting Fridays and Private Member’s Bills are an efficient way for the Government to work with backbenchers to bring in important laws which will make positive changes in people’s lives.
