Background and Current Framework
The current statutory framework relating to the issue of Ministerial appointments and pay, including the limits and restrictions applicable in this area, consists of three main Acts of Parliament
The Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975, which sets out what Ministers are to be paid at different ranks, and imposes cumulative limits on the number of salaries that can be paid at each rank. It also sets out the salary for named Opposition office holders.
The House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975, which places a limit on the number of ministerial office holders who are entitled to sit and vote in the House of Commons.
The Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, which makes provision for certain payments and allowances, including notably a loss of office payment of one quarter of an office holder's annual salary, at the point at which they cease to hold office, subject to certain conditions.
	In addition to those Acts, the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 makes provision for the creation of a pension scheme for Ministers and certain other office holders in Parliament, including Opposition offices.
	Successive Governments have operated at or close to the salary and headcount limits provided for in the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975 and the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 in appointments to their administrations. Prime Ministers may not make appointments that exceed these limits. If a woman holding high office were to want to take maternity leave, the Prime Minister does not normally have the flexibility to allow them to remain a salaried member of the Government in addition to appointing another Minister to fulfil their role for the period of their leave. The Opposition operates under similar constraints in terms of salaries for its office holders. Such constraints are a potential barrier to the full participation of women in public life.
	Ministers are public office holders. They are appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister of the day under the powers of the Royal Prerogative. Their status and constitutional position means that they are not treated as workers or employees and as such have none of the rights or entitlements that many others working in the UK are afforded under employment legislation. In particular they have no rights in relation to maternity leave.
	In 2014, the All Parliamentary Party Group on Women in Parliament produced a report which made the following recommendation in relation to payment to Ministers for parental leave:
	"We note also that while Ministers are now entitled to take maternity and paternity leave, and their work is covered by Ministerial colleagues, there is no additional funding to pay the covering Ministers for their additional responsibilities. We believe that a system of paid cover for Ministers on parental leave should be considered."
	In 2019 the Ministerial Code was updated to insert provisions allowing for ministers to take a leave of absence from their post. Those provisions describe how ministers can take temporary "leave" for maternity, reflecting recent practice. Desk notes have been developed for departments to reflect the practical arrangements they should take to support Ministers while on maternity leave, keeping them in touch with developments and making arrangements for a supported return. In practice, under these arrangements, the functions and responsibilities of Ministers on maternity leave have been covered by other Ministers already serving elsewhere in Government. A number of women have used this approach, including in this Parliament.
	Where it is an individual office or very senior office, these arrangements are particularly difficult to apply. This is because of the statutory limits on ministerial salaries and numbers set out in the legislation referred to above, and because the legal exercise of functions of such roles cannot be 'covered' by another Minister. The result is that a Minister in such a role who wished to take extended maternity leave would need to resign their office.
	This Act seeks to address this issue by providing for Ministers to be able to take paid maternity leave. The current arrangements already provide the mechanism for Ministers to take a short leave of absence for paternity leave.
	The Act, in providing for a Minister to be designated as a Minister on Leave, allows a Minister to take an extended period of maternity leave while remaining a member of the Government. As such, they would continue to be bound by the Ministerial Code and the principle of collective responsibility. While designated as a Minister on Leave, the office holder will have no specific duties or responsibilities, or exercise any powers in relation to their previous office. They will not be expected to account before Parliament on issues of Government policy while on leave. The Minister on Leave would be able to access papers they were able to access in their previous role (including Cabinet papers if they were a Cabinet Minister) and be kept updated on work going on in respect of their former role, but they could not commission work or take decisions. Ministers exercising powers (i.e. not designated as ‘Minister on Leave’) will remain accountable to Parliament.
	In order to be designated as a Minister on Leave, the Minister would be appointed to a new ministerial office and no longer hold their previous office. It would be for the Prime Minister to advise the Sovereign on the appointment of a person to fill the role vacated by the person designated a Minister on Leave, and that person so appointed would then hold that office in full and without condition. In this way ministerial accountability and clarity in the exercise of the ministerial functions associated with that office will be maintained.