§ Ms Rachel SquireTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) whether a student who is a parent without custody will have his or her income taken into account if earning money for more than five weeks and if the parent with custody applies for a maintenance assessment;
(2) if he will make a statement about the operation of the Child Support Act 1991 in respect of students who are parents without custody;
(3) whether a parent without custody who is a student will have earnings assessed for maintenance only if the parent with custody applies after the student has worked more than five weeks;
(4) what are the rules governing the treatment of temporary earnings by students who are parents without custody;
(5) whether income earned for more than five weeks by a student, who is a parent without custody, will be averaged and dealt with as the person's average income for the entire year whether or not the earnings continue; and whether that estimated annual income is added to grants or loans received by the student in calculating the amount of maintenance to be paid.
§ Mr. BurtA maintenance assessment made by the Child Support Agency applies from the date that the maintenance inquiry form is issued to an absent parent or, where there was previously a court order, from two days after the assessment is made.
There are special provisions for assessing maintenance where the absent parent is a student. He is not required to 247W make payments unless he has income other than from a grant, grant contribution or student loan. Where he does have other income and a maintenance assessment is made, the grant and loan elements are averaged to give a weekly income figure for the weeks for which they are paid. Any element in respect of the costs of his studies—such as examination fees or books—is ignored, as is £10 of the weekly value of a student loan.
The absent parent's average weekly earnings are calculated over the year preceding the issue of the maintenance inquiry form. If he has been a student for a period of less than a year, the calculation is made for the period of studentship. Where child support officers, who make the assessments, consider that the calculation does not produce a representative figure, they have discretion to calculate earnings over a different period. In the vast majority of cases, students would not be liable for maintenance.
§ Dr. WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list all those organisations which made submissions on the child support proposals following the publication in 1990 of "Children Come First", Cm 1264.
§ Mr. BurtThe following organisations responded to the White Paper "Children Come First", In addition, comments were received from some 100 private individuals and 85 hon. Members.