§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in respect of how many cases(a) her Department and (b) a Child Support Officer has sought leave to appeal against Child Support Commissioner decisions to the Court of Appeal. [5305]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe Chief Child Support Officer has sought leave to appeal the decisions of Child Support Commissioners in five cases. In one case leave to appeal was ruled out of time by the Commissioner. Leave to appeal on three cases was refused initially by Commissioners, but subsequently granted by the Court of Appeal. All four of these cases involved joint applications by the Chief Child Support Officer and the Secretary of State. In the remaining case the Chief Child Support Officer alone applied for leave to appeal, but this was not determined by the Commissioner who invited a late application for the decision in question to be set aside (the application to set aside was made, accepted and the decision duly set aside).
The Secretary of State has made no applications for leave to appeal a Commissioner's decision in addition to those made jointly with the Chief Child Support Officer.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans she has to introduce the penalty for late payments of child support maintenance provided for under section 41A of the Child Support Act 1991; and what form this penalty will take. [5249]
§ Mr. BradleyThe Government believes that all children are entitled to the support of both parents, irrespective of where they live. We will be looking carefully at the steps that can be taken to encourage absent parents to pay the maintenance they owe and we will consider whether a financial penalty under section 41A of the Act might have a part to play in achieving that aim. In the meantime, administrative arrangements are in place under which persistent non-payers can be required to pay up to 40 per cent. of their net income in current maintenance and arrears, rather than the usual maximum of 33 per cent.