Child Maintenance (Hansard, 4 March 1991)

§ 7. Mr. Burns
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average assessment for child maintenance under the current system.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Security (Mr. Michael Jack)
A recent survey of DSS local offices and courts found the average child maintenance assessment to be £25 a week per family.

§ Mr. Burns
Does my hon. Friend accept that Chelmsford is by no means unique in having far too many single mothers who face financial hardship because of being abandoned by the fathers? Does he agree that it is a national disgrace that only 30 per cent. of mothers receive regular maintenance payments and that the current 7 two-pronged approach in the House and the other place to tighten up on maintenance should go a long way towards helping mothers?

§ Mr. Jack
First, I congratulate my hon. Friend on his continuing interest in this important subject. I agree with him. It is interesting that about 10 years ago 50 per cent. of maintenance orders were honoured. Today only 30 per cent. are honoured. The Child Support Bill would redress that and would compensate the taxpayer for the £300 million bill that he has to foot because people are not honouring their maintenance obligations.

§ Mr. Flynn
Does the Minister agree that a great deal of money would be available for child maintenance and other causes if there was a reduction in tax avoidance and tax evasion? Did he notice a recent parliamentary answer which showed that a married woman on an income of £1.8 million a day should be paying £262 million a year in income tax? Does he think that every woman in Britain with an income of £1.8 million a day should be paying income tax?

§ Mr. Jack
The hon. Gentleman tries to tempt me into areas that are rightly the province of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Government's tax policies have ensured that we have gained in terms of total cash revenues from income tax. That is why we have been able to make substantial increases in our social security budget, to the extent that this year we shall spend £60 billion.