§ Lord Stoddart of Swindonasked Her Majesty' Government:
Whether in the light of the length and complexity of the consultation document on the proposed contents of the child support regulations to be made under the Child Support Act 1991, they will extend the period of consultation from 16th December 1991 to 16th January 1992, or such later date as may be convenient.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Lord Henley)In setting the length of the consultation period, the Government sought to balance the fact that interested parties will need time to comment against the need for sufficient time to consider all responses before ultimately drafting regulations. These regulations need to be approved well before the date of the agency implementation to ensure that the detailed operational planning of the agency's service to its customers can proceed. It would therefore not be practicable to extend the formal consultation period beyond 16th December 1991. However, the Government will wherever possible continue to take account of comments received subsequently. During the passage of the Child Support Act, the Government made every effort to indicate how it was proposed that regulatory powers would be used. Thus much of substance of the regulations was public knowledge prior to the publication of the document. There will be the8WA opportunity to debate the regulations in the House and the Government will always welcome views from organisations with a concern.