§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will make it an offence to(a) conceal assets from the Child Support Agency and (b) try to reduce income in order to avoid paying maintenance. [1118]
Mr. BradleyThe Child Support Agency already has wide powers to obtain and verify information required to assess child support maintenance. Also, where clients believe that income or assets have been misrepresented they can seek a departure from the formula assessment. However, we will be looking closely at this and other areas of the Agency's operations over the coming months to consider whether improvements can be made.