Child Support (Enforcement) Bill

Baroness Redfern Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 19th May 2023 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Baroness Redfern]

That the Bill be now read a second time.

[Baroness Redfern (Con)]

My Lords, I am pleased to introduce the Child Support (Enforcement) Bill to this place. After gathering significant cross-party support in the other place—it was passed without Division—I am hoping that noble Lords will continue this and support these important measures. I am sure that, like me, everyone here recognises the important role this Government play in making sure that our children get the very best possible start in life. The Government’s impartial support through the Child Maintenance Service—CMS—is especially crucial when there is a breakdown in the relationship between separated parents which then impacts on their children.

While it is not about taking one parent’s side over another’s, in those situations where parents no longer live together, ensuring that parents without the primary care of their children make regular financial contributions towards the support of those children is so important in keeping children out of poverty. That is why the Bill is such an important measure: it will not only improve the recovery of arrears from parents who have failed to meet their financial obligations to pay child maintenance, it will help to ensure that the CMS continues to deliver a modern, efficient and reliable service in which parents can have confidence. Perhaps most importantly, it will help in getting money to more children faster, because children should not have to suffer.

Before I move on to talk about the Bill in more detail, allow me to provide your Lordships with some further background to the CMS and the introduction of the Bill. The aim of the CMS is to encourage co-operation and collaborative parenting, in the form of family-based arrangements for separated parents in bringing up their children, but where necessary ensuring that they have the option of statutory maintenance arrangements through the CMS. Once parents are in the system, the CMS manages child maintenance cases through one of two service types: direct pay and collect and pay. For direct pay, the CMS provides a calculation and a payment schedule, but payments are arranged privately between the two parents. For collect and pay, the CMS calculates how much maintenance should be paid, collects the money from the paying parent and pays it to the receiving parent. Cases in collect and pay tend to involve parents where a more collaborative arrangement has either failed or not been possible to achieve. Paying parents on collect and pay are therefore considered to be less likely to meet their payment responsibilities.

The difference child maintenance payments make to children’s lives is critical, so it is vital the Child Maintenance Service takes action to tackle payment breakdowns at the very earliest opportunity, to re-establish compliance and to collect unpaid amounts as quickly as possible. Where compliance is not achieved and the parent is employed, the CMS will attempt to deduct maintenance, including any arrears, directly from their earnings. Employers are obliged by law to co-operate with this action. CMS enforcement powers also allow for deductions to be taken directly from bank accounts, including joint and business accounts, either as a lump sum or a regular amount. This is a useful power where the parent is self-employed and taking deductions from their earnings is not possible.

Where such powers prove to be inappropriate or ineffective under current legislation, the CMS must apply to the magistrates’ or sheriff courts to obtain a liability order before the use of other enforcement powers, such as instructing enforcement agents or sheriff officers, or even more stringent court-based enforcement actions, such as forcing the sale of property, disqualification from driving or holding a UK passport, or even commitment to prison.

This Bill will amend uncommenced primary legislation to enable the DWP to take further enforcement action without the need to apply to the magistrates’ or sheriff courts, as obtaining a liability order through the courts is time consuming, instead allowing the Secretary of State to make an administrative liability order. This power, once enacted, will allow enforcement measures to be used more quickly against parents who have failed to meet their obligations.

While getting child maintenance to our children more quickly has to be of primary importance in introducing this power, it is also important that this Bill does not simply allow the CMS to forge ahead with its most invasive and stringent enforcement measures without there being some protections for paying parents. With that in mind, this Bill and any regulations developed in support of it will ensure that important protections are in place for parents. My noble friend the Minister will say more about that shortly, but it is important to reiterate that the provisions being introduced in this Bill and the supporting regulations will allow the CMS to move swiftly and appropriately to enforcement measures, without placing any additional or unreasonable constraints on a parent’s ability to seek an appeal.

Finally, I should like to add that this Bill extends to England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland has traditionally maintained parity with Great Britain by mirroring child maintenance legislation. In respect of administrative liability orders, Northern Ireland has similar uncommenced provisions to those in Great Britain, which it plans to commence, thereby enabling it to use and enforce administrative liability orders. However, due to the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly, it will not be possible at this time for it to amend its legislation to match the changes being made through this Bill.

In conclusion, as I hope I have been able to make clear, this Bill is of great importance to the future of children in separated families, and I am therefore privileged to be able to present it to the House. I hope that noble Lords agree with me that the essential improvements to enforcement processes within the CMS that it makes, which will get money more quickly to children, are measures we need to give effect to quickly. I therefore look forward to working with the Minister as we aim to secure the Bill’s swift passage through the House. I beg to move.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Redfern (Con)]

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to this important debate and the Member for Stroud, Siobhan Baillie, in the other place. Importantly, I also thank the Public Bill Office and officials in the Department for Work and Pensions for their guidance. This Bill will achieve administrative efficiencies for the Child Maintenance Service, not just for the taxpayer. It will introduce a quicker and cheaper process to pursue enforcement for people who are waiting for money. That money will be collected for more children, providing them with the financial support they need to get a good start in life, although we must do much more. I acknowledge that the CMS does an incredibly challenging job in very difficult circumstances.

I thank my noble friend the Minister for his contribution and direct responses to the queries posed today. I also thank all noble Lords who have spoken. I hope that, with continued cross-party support, this Child Support (Enforcement) Bill will continue through the House. I beg to move.

Bill read a second time and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.