MPs urge for change to child maintenance payment regulations

July 14, 2011

A group of MPs has called for the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, which replaced the Child Support Agency, to make it necessary for parents who do not live with their children to have their maintenance payments taken directly from either their salary or their bank account, rather than having them directly in charge of making each payment.

The group of MPs were triggered into making this announcement when they found out how many parents who have separated do not make regular payments, while others do not make any payments at all. At the moment, those parents who don’t make payments when they are due can have the money taken directly from their bank account, however the MPs feel this situation could be alleviated more if all payments were made directly.

This move by MPs comes after the highly controversial introduction of charges for parents who wish to use the service to receive child maintenance payments, which the government justified by saying it would encourage parents to come to an agreement on their own. Despite these recommendations from the group of MPs, the government still stresses that it wants parents to sort out their differences to set up regular child maintenance payments rather than seeking an intervention straight away.

In addition to this, the replacement to the Child Support Agency was also found to be highly inefficient with regard to money – costing 50p for every pound it managed to collect while missing out on collecting billions of payments it was owed.

Comments

  • John says:

    Better still shut the whole bloody mess down all together. M.P.’s and civil servants should kepp their big noses out of family matters!

    It is for parents to sort out financial arrangements for their children. Not corrupt politicians or incompetent civil srvants!

    Typical politicians who don’t live in the real world, just don’t get it!

  • KMcQ80 says:

    The last paragraph says it all.

  • karen bedford says:

    Great can they sort it out with the self employed too then?

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