Parental Leave

Lads,
In my company parental leave is 'encouraged to be taken in blocks of not less than 4 weeks'

I am assuming there is no basis in lw for this...i.e. I could apply for 1 week if I felt like it?

AFAIK, there is actually a basis in law. The employer does not have to grant the leave in small blocks or e.g. one day a week. They can say to take it all together. Usually any other arrangement is by agreement with employer and employee. So while you could apply for 1 week, they don't have to give it to you that way.
See [broken link removed]