Plans to extend paid paternity leave for fathers are "good news for business, parents and society", Alan Johnson has said.

The trade and industry secretary said the Work and Families Bill, which will allow men to take up to six months off work to care for their children, meant the government was delivering on its election promises.

Currently fathers can take two weeks off on £106 per week, with around 60 per cent taking up the offer.

But the new plans would allow them to take three months paid leave and a further three months without pay.

Government Response: DTI

Alan Johnson said: "Today's bill delivers on our commitment to help working parents balance the demands of their job with caring for their children by introducing a modern framework of rights and responsibilities that offers real choice and flexibility.

"To help mothers we will extend paid maternity leave to nine months with the aim of increasing it to a year. Increasingly fathers want to play a more active role in bringing up their children, so we will help fathers take time off when the mother returns to work by introducing a new right to paternity leave.

"And we will also help those who care for elderly or sick relatives by extending to them the right to request flexible working.

"Our consultation showed broad support for our family friendly approach, but today's bill also includes a number of measures to make it easier for businesses to deal with employees taking time off to give their child the best start in life."

Opposition Response: Conservatives

Shadow secretary of state for the family Theresa May said: "Some fathers would enjoy an opportunity to spend time with their new baby, but many just cannot afford the loss of income.

"However, it will also pose very real problems for many small businesses, and the impact and extra costs on them are not at all clear.

"How are they supposed to cope with the extra administration, and the difficulties of filling posts with skilled or experienced workers for only a three month period?

"The Bill fails to estimate the costs of more paid annual leave on business, and we are expected to take a lot of the figures on trust.

"The danger is that in wanting to appear family friendly, government are being far from friendly to small businesses, which could hurt families in the long term.

"It would be a tragedy if this legislation had the perverse effect of deterring employers from taking on young people with families."

Opposition Response: Liberal Democrats

Trade and industry spokesman Norman Lamb said: "It is right that government policy should put the emphasis on ensuring that parents have time with their new children.

"Working parents should have a real choice in these important early months. However, in reality only well off fathers are likely to take advantage of the unpaid extra three months leave.

"The government has left many questions unanswered. There is a danger that the scheme could turn into a bureaucratic nightmare."

Stakeholder Response: IoD

Miles Templeman, director general of the Institute of Directors, said: "Allowing new parents to trade off their maternity and paternity leave will hopefully benefit employers.

"If the mother is the more highly skilled and productive parent and returns to work sooner than expected, while her partner cares for the child, many businesses will suffer less disruption than under the present arrangements."

"Our members, by and large, support family-friendly policies. Three out of four believe that it is actually morally right for society to have family-friendly policies in the workplace.

"They realise that these policies aid staff recruitment and retention and ultimately boost morale.

"However, that said, we cannot ignore the fact that smaller firms will finder it harder to cope with these proposals, hence the pressing need to reform the administration of maternity and paternity pay."

Stakeholder Response: FSB

Alan Tyrrell, FSB employment chairman, said: "It is a fact that 97 per cent of businesses in the UK employ less than 20 people.

"Such employers will find it very difficult to put in place arrangements to hire suitably trained staff to take the place of employees who have children.

"We appreciate these measures are family-friendly, but they are not business friendly, partly because they are being introduced at some speed, leaving small employers with little time to cope with the changes."

Stakeholder Response: CIPD

Rebecca Clake, organisation and resourcing advisor at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said: "The government's new proposals for working fathers pose three key questions.

"Will they achieve for fathers what the government wants them to achieve?

"Do they strike the right note in encouraging employers to see the business case for flexible working?

"And is the proposal for a transfer of rights to parental leave from mothers to fathers workable?

"These proposals should cause employers few immediate problems, as dads are unlikely to be queuing up to take longer paternity leave at current rates of pay.

"Working fathers already have a right to two weeks paternity leave paid at £106 per week, but CIPD research shows that most can't afford to take it and wouldn't even consider taking further leave at the statutory rate of pay available.

"However, a recognition that fathers should be supported in having a work-life balance as well as mothers is welcome.

"Our research shows that an increase in the use of flexible working arrangements has brought business benefits.

"Employers who are supportive of new fathers are likely to be rewarded with a more motivated and committed workforce.

"The area that will cause greatest concern to employers in today's announcements is the potential logistical issues that could be posed by the government's decision to allow three months of maternity leave, paid at the statutory rate, to be transferred to the father only after the mother has taken six months leave.

"We need to know more about how this will work. Employers tell us that they are concerned that they could be cast in the role of 'policeman' for a complex and potentially unenforceable scheme.

"In most cases, mothers and fathers work for different employers, making this proposal unnecessarily complicated.

"If the government is committed to extending the right to paternity leave, it would be far better to allow a simple right for fathers to take paternity leave, and leave it to parents to decide between themselves how and when to take their respective parental leave."

Stakeholder Response: BRC

BRC director-general Kevin Hawkins told ePolitix.com: "The BRC acknowledges the importance of providing a flexible working environment in which retailers and their employees can benefit.

"Parents especially have a necessity for balancing work and family life, and this is recognised by the retail industry as a whole, which by its nature already provides flexible working and has long been one of the pioneers of flexible working practices.

"However, whilst it is understandable that the government wishes to help as much as possible to meet better the needs of children and their parents, the burden on retailers, especially on small and medium enterprises , may well be large.

"It is imperative that any new measures that are introduced are proportionate and do not create unmanageable administrative burdens.

"It is also essential that any proposals be properly assessed before implementation."

Stakeholder Response: GMB

Rehana Azam, GMB national officer, said: "GMB welcomes the announcement that paid maternity leave will be extended to nine months, fulfilling the government's manifesto pledge.

"Regarding the paternity leave, what this boils down to is robbing mum to pay dad if you’re rich enough to afford it.

"The GMB was expecting that fathers would get paid time off in their own right, which hasn't happened.

"GMB will seek to change the Bill as it goes through parliament to get the much needed additional paid leave for dads."