Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Bill

Wendy Morton Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 14th December 2022 Public Bill Committees

[Sally-Ann Hart (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I am grateful to you, and to the Committee members, for joining me today to look at the Bill in more detail. The Bill, which will make provision to enable the making of arrangements for the collection of child support maintenance in cases involving domestic abuse, has only four clauses. I am sure, however, that all hon. Members recognise its importance, as it will help to protect victims of domestic abuse when using the Child Maintenance Service.

Before going into more detail about the specifics of the Bill, it may be helpful if I recap how the Child Maintenance Service operates for those Members present who might not be aware. The purpose of the Child Maintenance Service is to facilitate the payment of child maintenance between separated parents who are unable to reach their own agreement following separation—a challenging job, done in very difficult circumstances. I am sure we all recognise from our casework that some separated parents find it very difficult to co-operate, especially when there may have been a history of domestic abuse.

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.

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

I commend my hon. Friend on introducing an excellent piece of legislation and highlighting some of the challenges faced by victims of domestic abuse. Will she provide some clarity with regards to collect and pay, and confirm that under the Bill no charges will be imposed on the payee?

[Sally-Ann Hart]

I thank my right hon. Friend for her question, which I have raised with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Minister. I understand the Department is looking seriously at how to deal with that matter.

Under the current legislation, direct pay is the default option unless the paying parent agrees to collect and pay, or demonstrates an unwillingness to pay their liability. The Bill aims to extend the collect and pay service to victims of domestic abuse, regardless of payment history. Evidence tells us that this is where extra support could be offered, which is why the Bill is so important. The proposals are about giving victims of domestic abuse the choice to use collect and pay, so that they can decide what is best for their personal circumstances.

Although the CMS can act as an intermediary for parents using direct pay, the Bill will, for the first time under the CMS service, mean that those parents for whom it is appropriate can avoid entirely any need to transact with the other parent. That should ensure that parents who need that protection can feel as safe as possible using the Child Maintenance Service. The Bill will achieve that by amending primary legislation to allow victims of domestic abuse to use the collect and pay service where there is evidence of domestic abuse against the requesting parent—the paying or receiving parent—or even against children in the household by the other parent involved in the case.

Let me turn to the specifics of the Bill. Clause 1 gives the Bill its substance. It relates to the collection of maintenance in England and Wales, and Scotland, and amends the Child Support Act 1991 to allow for a child maintenance case to be placed on the collect and pay service where either parent applies on the grounds of domestic abuse, and where there is evidence of domestic abuse against the requesting parent or children in their household.

--- Later in debate ---

[Wendy Morton]

This morning we are talking about victims of domestic abuse, and we are rightly focusing a lot on women, but does the Minister also acknowledge that some victims in the domestic abuse space can be men?

[Mims Davies]

Very much so. This legislation is important for anyone in a perilous situation at home. To be clear, such abuse is criminality in the home. If it took place on our neighbour’s front lawn or down the precinct, it would be criminal. Whoever is involved and however it is brought about, it is criminality. For anyone involved in domestic abuse—anyone perpetrating it, male or female, and whether on a male or a female—it is criminality, fair and square. Those people it is happening to should be empowered and supported to come forward. I thank my right hon. Friend for making that point.

Let me make some progress. I will discuss why the Bill came about, which we have touched on briefly. The CMS processes and policies are regularly reviewed and kept in line with best practice. The Department commissioned an independent review of the way in which the CMS supports survivors of domestic abuse, because we want to take practical steps to ensure that those who have suffered domestic abuse can use the CMS safely and with confidence.

We have learned lessons from customers’ experiences and acted on their feedback. We have consulted with stakeholders, some of whom we have heard about today. The Independent Case Examiner—ICE—who is the complaints arbitrator, highlighted a case where a paying parent was allowed access to direct pay, despite there being a non-molestation order in place. That is incredibly worrying. We need to make sure we have aligned our policy in accordance with the ICE view that that was inappropriate, despite the paying parent paying their maintenance in full and on time.

We are not complacent with this. The day-to-day policy sits with my noble Friend in the other place, Baroness Stedman-Scott. She is very strident that the CMS must be at its best. We must learn when things go wrong, and we must be strident in pursuit of parents doing the right thing for their children. We can all agree on that.

The collection charges are applied to all CMS collect and pay cases. The charges are 20% on top of the liability for the paying parent, and 4% of the maintenance received for the receiving parent. I appreciate and understand colleagues’ points. The charges were originally introduced to provide both parents with an incentive to collaborate. Running the collect and pay service incurs costs to the taxpayer. It is therefore reasonable for most parents to contribute towards running this service.

However, we recognise that many parents who the Bill aims to support could be among the most vulnerable groups, as my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye has said. Full consideration is being given to exempting victims of domestic abuse from collection charges, although collection charges do not form part of the primary legislation and are set out in secondary legislation. We are clear that charges on the whole are the right approach, but we are willing to consider, and are rightly considering, where exemptions may be appropriate. I hope that reassures the Committee.

The hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley asked about domestic abuse training. We have substantially strengthened the CMS procedures and processes to support customers experiencing domestic abuse, and to help them to tell us what is going on. I hope this reassures the hon. Member: with particular input from Women’s Aid, a programme of domestic abuse training has been designed and delivered for all CMS caseworkers. [Interruption.] If the hon. Member knows different and is concerned, I am happy to hear more from her and from Women’s Aid.

Let me provide some details. The training recognises that domestic abuse can take various forms, as we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch. It can be physical, psychological, emotional and financial. The training gives appropriate signposting to domestic abuse support groups, and advice on contacting the police if necessary. If customers do not feel able to do that, they are asked whether they are content for the Child Maintenance Service to do so on their behalf. We are strident in making sure that those people engage with us and are supported.