The government is asking for views on options to give
the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) stronger
compliance, collection and enforcement methods to make
sure parents are meeting their responsibilities towards
their children.
The Child Maintenance Service was established in 2012
to replace the old Child Support Agency (CSA). Steps have already
been taken to strengthen the action taken against
parents who don’t pay the child maintenance they owe,
including consulting on seizing unpaid
maintenance from joint bank accounts.
The consultation proposals today include:
- removing passports – parents who persistently do
not pay the child maintenance they owe could face being
banned from holding or obtaining a UK passport for up
to 2 years
- improved calculations – income from capital,
foreign income, notional income from assets and
unearned income could all be taken into account when
the CMS works out
how much maintenance a parent owes
- deductions from business accounts –
the CMS could seize
funds from sole trader and partnership accounts to pay
off a parent’s unpaid maintenance bill.
The consultation also outlines proposals to address
historic unpaid child maintenance built up under the
old CSA,
and options for writing it off. New analysis shows that
it would cost the government £1.5 billion to collect
the debt, most of which is owed on CSA cases where the
children are now adults.
Minister for Family Support, Housing and Child
Maintenance said:
Our priority is to make sure parents meet their
responsibilities to their children so we have been
replacing the old CSA – which failed
children over the decades – with a new system that is
already working better for families. But we need to
go further to ensure children get the support they
need. That’s why we are consulting on a range of
options, including tougher powers against parents who
do not pay the child maintenance they owe.
The consultation opened on 14 December 2017 and closes
on 8 February 2018.
