Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Health and Safety Executive has been consulted by Peak Cluster Limited on the proximity of the proposed CO2 pipeline route and above-ground installation to Gawsworth Church of England Primary School.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As a statutory consultee to the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) process for the Peak Cluster pipeline, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has responded to the Planning Inspectorate at the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Stage confirming whether the proposed pipeline passes through the Consultation Distances of other major accident hazard pipelines, major hazard sites, or licensed explosives sites.
Under the Pipeline Safety Regulations 1996, as amended, the operator of a major hazard pipeline is required to produce a major accident prevention document prior to the design of the pipeline being completed, demonstrating that major accident hazard potential arising from the pipeline has been identified; evaluation of those risks has been carried out; and that an adequate safety management system for those risks is in place.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to ensure the Child Maintenance Service (a) is easier to navigate, b) reduces instances of lack of payment by one parent, (c) is faster at resolving cases and appeals and (d) reduces the total number of appeals allowed.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is taking steps to make improvements across the child maintenance system and create a modern, accessible, and robust service through our Service Modernisation Programme (SMP) and CMS reforms. Through the SMP, we have worked with suppliers who have experience of transforming organisations globally – this is ongoing, and we benefit from their insight and innovation.
The SMP has already delivered significant improvements to the customer experience through the provision of online services and Digital Assist Telephony Service, enabling parents to access their on-line My Child Maintenance Case at any time. We have restructured our telephony call routing system, made incremental improvements to customer communications, including a full review of letters, and made significant advancements to our IT systems. The wide-reaching programme aims to continue to reform and modernise CMS services with increased effectiveness and efficiency, and will continue to engage a wide range of statutory and non-statutory bodies to do this.
A principle of child maintenance is to increase levels of cooperation between separated parents and encourage parents to meet their responsibilities to provide their children with financial support. Where a family-based child maintenance arrangement is not suitable the CMS offers a statutory scheme for those parents who need it.
The Government is dedicated to ensuring parents meet their obligations to children and the CMS will do everything within its powers to make sure parents comply. Where parents fail to pay their child maintenance, the Service will not hesitate to use its enforcement powers, including deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licences, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison. The Service is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families.
The Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 proposed regulations to support the introduction of administrative liability orders (ALOs), removing the requirement to obtain a court issued liability order. Introducing this process should enable the CMS to take faster action against those paying parents who actively avoid their responsibilities and get money to children more quickly. We are working with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and the Scottish Government to establish a process for implementing ALOs and plan to introduce regulations to Parliament by the end of this year.
Appeals fall under the jurisdiction of HM Courts and Tribunals Service.