Child Support Regulations (Hansard, 22 June 1992)

§ Mr. Burt

In laying today the first package of Child Support Regulations we have sought to achieve the right balance between the needs of parents and others responsible for the day to day care of children and absent parents who still retain responsibilities for their upkeep.

Today's regulations contain a number of important provisions including the precise details of the assessment formula provided for in the Child Support Act, the powers of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to collect necessary information and charging of interest on maintenance arrears.

Before becoming law these regulations must be debated in Parliament. Further regulations regarding collection and enforcement procedures will follow shortly and a final package of regulations will be brought forward in due course.

Comments on our proposals for the regulations were received from around 100 organisations and individuals who responded to the consultation exercise. A consultation exercise was also undertaken in Northern Ireland. Five hundred copies of the consultation document were sent out last November. We have considered the comments carefully and we have been helped in our decision-making by the helpful recommendations put to us. The main variations are:

Minimum payment required from some absent parents on Income Support

The Government have decided to modify its proposals for requiring absent parents on Income Support, if they are fit and not currently responsible for children, to make a minimum payment. It is now proposed that those who are under 18 years old will not have to pay. For those who will have to pay, the minimum payment is at the same level as other standard deductions from Income Support, and is designed to establish the liability and a pattern of contributing to maintenance.

Dates from which maintenance liability is effective

The Government have looked very carefully at the comments about the date from which liability for maintenance should come into effect and has now decided that the effective date in all new cases, regardless of the benefit status of the person with care, will be the date on which the absent parent is notified that a maintenance application from (MAFF) has been received by the Agency. This will be the date when the maintenance inquiry form (MEF) is issued to the absent parent.

While the absent parent may owe some arrears by the time he or she is notified of the assessment, they will accrue only from the time he is aware of a Child Support Agency interest and can take steps to put money aside. Where the absent parent applies for maintenance assessment, the effective date will remain the date of receipt of the MAF by the Child Support Agency. Cases in the transitional period where there is an existing court order will have an effective date of issue of the maintenance assessment plus 2 days to allow for postage.

Phasing in Formula Assessments

The Government have reconsidered its proposals to phase in formula assessments where they are larger than 86W existing orders. It was the original intention to restrict phasing to absent parents with a second family who had a court order.

The Government consider that this would discriminate unfairly against parents who had made voluntary agreements to pay maintenance, and now proposes to extend phasing to absent parents with a second family who have written evidence of a maintenance agreement.

The Government has also concluded that the original proposals were weighted too much towards the needs of the absent parent to the detriment of the interest of the person with care, and so it has reconsidered the duration and amount of the phasing arrangements. Regulations will therefore be laid to allow for phasing to last for one year before the full formula assessment will be instituted, to be available only where the formula assessment is less than £60, and to be based on a stepped increase of £20.

Maintenance Requirement

The Government originally proposed a reduction in the amount of the adult allowance included in the maintenance requirement when the youngest child reaches the age of 11. However, in response to concerns expressed particularly by legal bodies as to the clear responsibilities that remain for the care and welfare of children under 16, we have now decided not to reduce the allowance at age 11

Reasonable housing costs

The Government had always intended that housing costs should be allowed in full provided that the parent acted responsibly in taking on housing costs in the light of existing commitments.

It is now proposed that no restriction of allowable housing costs will apply to parents who are disabled or have a disabled child or children living with them. High housing costs brought about by factors such as interest rate rises will also be allowed, as will costs which the parent has been meeting for at least 52 weeks.

Maintenance Application Form (M A F)

Fourteen days will now be allowed, rather than seven, for the return of the MAF, this will give the person with care longer to complete the form but ensure that the payment of maintenance is not unduly delayed.

Reviews

Under the new scheme, there will be automatic annual reviews of maintenance assessments which will pick up changes of circumstances. In the meantime, however, as originally proposed, maintenance assessments will be changed if the difference in the new amount is £10 per week or more. This will ensure that significant changes do not need to wait until the annual review while ensuring that the person with care can expect a stable income from maintenance.

In some particular circumstances—where an absent parent gets the benefit of protected income and there is an increase in the amount of maintenance payable, or there is a new qualifying child, or a child ceases to be a qualifying child—the amount will be changed if the difference is £1 or more (rather than zero as originally proposed).

Interim Maintenance Assessment (IMA)

The Government now propose to set the level of an IMA at one and a half times the maintenance requirement instead of double. The Government also propose to increase the warning period (before an IMA is actually imposed) from seven to 14 days.

Tribunals

The Government has decided not to pursue its proposal that child support appeal tribunal chairman should have a 87W discretionary power to exclude representatives. They have also decided to propose that hearings will be held in private, unless the chairman directs otherwise.

Shared Care

The Government have decided to maintain its decision that two nights overnight stay is the minimum amount of care necessary to justify reducing the maintenance the absent parent pays. That provision keeps the right balance between the interests of both parents and interests of the child, given that shared care should mean joint responsibility for all important aspects of a child's upbringing, nurture, and day-to-day care and expense.

Requirement to Co-operate

The Government remain of the view that a sanction is needed to ensure that a parent with care cannot simply decide, with no good reason, to pass the full costs of maintaining a child on to the taxpayer rather than to seek maintenance from the other parent. The current proposals already include a number of changes which were made as a result of helpful comment during Parliamentary debate on the primary legislation. These changes were welcomed when they were made, and the Government feel that the right balance has now been achieved.

The Government believe that the level and duration of reduction set out in the consultation document achieve its objective of encouraging the parent to think his or her responsibilities and the benefits that maintenance offers to the child concerned.

Where the Secretary of State is satisfied that there would be a risk of the parent with care, or of any child living with the parent, suffering harm or undue distress as a result of pursuing maintenance, then no further action will be taken. The Government have said before that "harm or undue distress" would cover a risk of violence to the parent or child.

While corroborative evidence in support of a parent's claim of good cause will be welcome, it will not be essential. A Social Security Commissioner's decision sets out the presumption which applies in similar circumstances for benefit decisions, namely that the person concerned is telling the truth, unless there are strong grounds for thinking otherwise. The Government think it is right to follow such an approach for child maintenance.

Suitable and comprehensive training and guidance will be given to staff of the Child Support Agency to ensure that this sensitive area of work is handled professionally and sympathetically.

Take-on of Responsibility by the Child Support Agency

As indicated in general terms in the consultation document, the responsibilities of the Child Support Agency will be taken on over a period of time. From April 1993 the agency will take responsibility for the assessment, collection and enforcement of child maintenance in respect of all cases where there are no existing arrangements in place with the court.

Additionally, the Department of Social Security, with its "liable relative" responsibilities under section 24 of the Social Security Act 1986, has a large number of maintenance cases either presently without an arrangement or under an existing court order or voluntary agreement, and the Government intends to assess these cases under the Child Support Act over the three-year period 1993–96.

There are a large number of cases that have a court order but where there is no benefit involved. Because the agency will be taking on all new claims for maintenance 88W and liable relative cases from 1993 it will not be possible for the agency to accommodate these cases, where parties wish to come to the agency, until 1996. Fropm April 1996, the person with care will be able to apply to the agency for an assessment, subject to phasing by surname of the person with care to the following timetable:

Surname A-D	April 1996
Surname E-K	July 1996
Surname L-R	October 1996
Surname S-Z	January 1997

From April 1997 the agency will provide full services for all maintenance cases.