Section 4: Payment of maternity allowance: Opposition office
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.
	Subsection (1) provides the basis for the payment of the allowance.
	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.
	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).
	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.
	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).
	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.
	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.
	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.