FOI Request 2266

Subject: Parental Leave Policies

Status: Complete

Date received: December 2025

Question Asked:

I would please like to know:

1) Your parental leave policies, including paternity leave and pay and maternity leave and pay. If you have different policies for firefighters and non-firefighter staff, please include both

2) In the last three years for which you have data, how many staff members were eligible for paternity leave?

3) In the last three years for which you have data, how many staff members took paternity leave, and for how many weeks on average?

4) In the last three years for which you have data, what was the average salary for staff who were eligible for paternity leave? (If it is not possible to provide this, please provide the average salary for all the organisation’s staff instead)

For queries 2-4, please provide separate data for firefighter and non-firefighter staff, but if this is not possible, please provide combined data for both instead.

Our Response:

Please see our response below to your Freedom of Information Request.

1) Your parental leave policies, including paternal leave and pay and maternity leave and pay. If you have different policies for firefighters and non-firefighter staff, please include both.

Please see below requested policies

foi_2266_maternity_scheme.pdf

foi_2266_parental_leave_policy.pdf

foi_2266_shared_parental_leave_policy.pdf

foi_2266_paternity_policy.pdf

2) In the last three years for which you have data, how many staff members were eligible for paternity leave?

Our systems only record those who apply for and take paternity leave as opposed to recording how many were eligible. Please see above Paternity Policy for eligibility criteria.

3) In the last three years for which you have data, how many staff members took paternity leave, and for how many weeks on average?

Data held in the system on absence screens show the following for the period 1st January 2023 - 31st December 2025

Operational - 62 staff members took paternity leave over 3 years.

Please note:

• Dual role staff (OC & WT) have been counted twice where applicable ie once in each role they have (as some paternity has been taken at different times in each role)

There were 5 dual role staff that took paternity in each role.

• Staff who have taken paternity more than once over the 3 years have been counted as one staff member (3 in total)

Support - 1 staff member took paternity leave over the 3 years.

The average number of weeks is 2 for both Support staff and Operational staff.

4) In the last three years for which you have data, what was the average salary for staff who were eligible for paternity leave? (If it is not possible to provide this, please provide the average salary for all the organisation’s staff instead)

Due to the nature and variety of employment types within Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service it is very difficult to obtain a useful average of salaries from within the service.

Please see the below link for pay scales for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service (towards bottom of linked page)

Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service - HR policies and staff pay and grading structures

Outcome: Information Provided

FOI responded to within timescales: YES

Further action: NO