Council to pioneer neonatal care policy to include foster parents
A Northern Ireland council is set to introduce a neonatal care policy to include foster parents amid an “absence of legislation” from Stormont.
Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council’s (LCCC) corporate committee have approved pay and leave recommendations for staff whose children require specialist care after birth.
The new leave and pay rights have come following an earlier proposal by Alderman Sharon Skillen, highlighting how Northern Ireland employees are being disadvantaged compared to other parents in the UK.
A council officer said: “The neonatal bill, which has been introduced in Great Britain, provides up to 12 weeks leave and statutory pay to parents of babies requiring specialist neonatal care in England, Scotland and Wales.
“In the absence of NI legislation, the charity Tiny Life has been campaigning for organisations to introduce comparable leave so that employees in NI are not disadvantaged in comparison to employees in Great Britain.”
Councillor John Laverty added: “This new council policy is something to be welcomed, but hopefully never to be utilised.
"I would ask, could we add foster parents to the policy? As a foster carer, we have from time to time taken care of new born babies straight from hospital and I see no mention of foster carers in this policy.”
Councillor Laverty’s proposal was supported in the chamber with officers agreeing to bring back a report.
Belfast City Council was the first local authority in NI to bring about a neonatal policy in September 2024 for biological and adopting parents as well as those in surrogate arrangements.
The Department for the Economy is currently at a consultation stage to bring about proposals to introduce a range of enhancements to employment legislation in Northern Ireland including paid neonatal leave. At this time there are no statutory guidelines for employers to provide neonatal leave and pay in NI. Committee chairperson, Nicholas Trimble said: “This is great to see this policy come about. I agree with Councillor Laverty in that we hope that it will not need to be utilised and that foster carers should not be overlooked.”
The committee agreed LCCC proposals for leave and pay will now be taken to a formal consultation with employee trade unions before being ratified at full council.