Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders are being enforced overseas.

The UK fully supports the operation of international treaties for the reciprocal (cross border) enforcement of maintenance orders (REMO). Children have the right to care and support and parents have a responsibility to provide it, including when the paying parent and the child are living in different countries. The Government encourages suitable countries to become party to REMO treaties, in particular the 2007 Hague Convention on International Child Support and Family Maintenance.

While the enforcement of orders is a matter for the country of enforcement, the UK raises systemic issues on Hague Conventions at the Hague Conference on Private International Law. Officials regularly discuss individual cases and the country-to-country operation of REMO treaties bilaterally.