Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Bill

Lia Nici Excerpts

Friday 3rd March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Lia Nici (Great Grimsby) (Con)]

I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Sally-Ann Hart) for introducing this Bill. She is an absolute champion for her community, and I am sure her that constituents are very proud to have such a hard-working and committed Member of Parliament working for them.

Sadly, we all see stories of domestic abuse in our mailbags and in our constituency work. I am afraid that we see this kind of financial coercion and abuse all too often. Sadly, domestic abusers use it as a way to keep power and control over their partners and their children. I welcome the Bill because it means that women in particular can feel safer knowing that their abusive partners will not be able to find them or stop payments electronically.

Recently, constituents have started to come to me about the use of applications on telephones. Their partners have put applications on their phones to control the heating in the house and, unbeknown to my constituents, they are switching off the central heating and making life very unpleasant for them. Anything we can do to stop and cut off the abuse is very welcome. I welcome other Members’ comments about ensuring that the recipients of the payment are not subject to costly surcharges. I come from a single-parent family myself, and we know that single-parent families often struggle to afford everything, especially when an ex-partner is causing as many problems as they can, including by stopping income, causing problems with direct debit payments or interfering with benefit payments. I wholeheartedly support this important Bill and thank my hon. Friend for promoting it.