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CHILD SUPPORT AGENCY - the changes |
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As announced on the 27/10/08 and the 03/11/08 it is now a criminal offence to move home and not inform the agency within seven days. (It is also envisaged that at some time in the future it will also be a criminal offence to change job or occupation without notifying the agency within seven days.') ____________________________________________________________________________________
What is
new, Changes to the Child Support Agency and a new direction
for the Tribunals Service From
today the 27th of October 2008 No one will be compelled to
go to the Child Support agency. If they
can reach a private agreement then no matter, they do not
need the Child Support Agency. However
if they cannot reach an agreement then the services of the
Agency remain in place for their use. Further
C-MEC will not be fully rolled out until 2013. Then
non-resident parents will face a new way of calculating
their income along with a new percentage deduction rate. Collection and Enforcement regulations under C-MEC have also
been rolled out. This means more stringent and focused
collection of Arrears both current and historical.
This
means that the Agency can collect arrears even when the
qualifying children are no longer qualifying and could even
be working or married with their own children! Also the
Agency will now be able to track down non-resident parent
bank accounts, freeze them as well as any other assets that
the Agency can find. This is in addition to liability
orders, charging orders with and incorporating a power of
sale of the property charged. The Tribunals Service Comment I
perceive a lack of Joined Up Thinking once more by the
powers that be.
Latest estimates suggest absent parents owe nearly £4bn in unpaid maintenance. But opponents say the government's plans could lead to breaches of parents' civil rights. The Child Support Agency can confiscate the driving licences of parents who refused to pay for their children, but it had to apply for a court order to do so. Last year, Parliament passed an act giving the body which oversees the CSA and is developing its successor - the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) - the same power in relation to passports. The new legislation would allow the CMEC to bypass the courts and confiscate absent parents' passports and driving licences until the money is paid in full. The government argues that this is "faster, simpler and easier for the taxpayer". Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell said: "We are supporting parents in these tough times, but for those who choose not to support their own kids, we will not stand by and do nothing. "If a parent refuses to pay up then we will stop them travelling abroad or even using their car. "We want fair rules for everybody and that means giving people the support they need, but in return expecting them to live up to their responsibilities." Janet Allbeson, from the one-parent family advisory group Gingerbread, told the BBC she supported the idea as a last resort. "Over half of all children in single-parent households are poor. And we know, because Parliament has told us, that if all non-resident parents who are required to pay money each week by the Child Support Agency did so it would lift an extra 100,000 children out of poverty." The government says the new plan will be tested in certain areas of the country. Similar schemes in the US and Australia have been successful in increasing payments. Other powers open to the CMEC include taking money from a bank account without going through the courts; applying for a curfew, or recovering money from a dead person's estate. Opponents are worried that civil liberties may be undermined if bureaucrats have the power to take away passports and driving licences. |