[holding answer 26 January 2010]: The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for Statutory Maternity Pay and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is responsible for Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay.
The available information on spending on Statutory Maternity Pay is in the following table. Information on a longer time series of spending figures can be found at the following web link:
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/Alltables_Budget2009_Values.xls
Statutory maternity pay (outturn) (£ million) 1997-98 502 1998-99 553 1999-2000 635 2000-01 648 2001-02 636 2002-03 724 2003-04 1,035 2004-05 1,291 2005-06 1,184 2006-071 1,287 2007-081 1,469 2008-091 1,751 1 Figures are estimated outturn for the years in question. The figures relate to Great Britain, and are for Government expenditure to balance employer recoveries from the national insurance fund. Source: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/Alltables_Budget2009_Values.xls
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills publishes its expenditure on Statutory Paternity Pay as part of its Annual Report which can be found here:
www.berr.gov.uk/aboutus/corporate/performance/annual-spending/page25111.html
Statutory paternity pay (£ million) 2003-04 20.0 2004-05 37.8 2005-06 50.0 2006-07 6.7 2007-08 42.8 Note: Figures also includes the Department’s spend on Statutory Adoption Pay. Source: Department for Business Innovation and Skills Annual Reports