A mixture of increased benefits for parents with care and tougher sanctions on non resident parents will see the child being put at the heart of the new child maintenance system.
At present one in three non resident parents fail to pay any of the money owed to their children. That means 12,600 children are missing out. The existing system is also too bureaucratic. Now parents with care will have benefits secured and non resident parents will have fewer places to hide.
Current child support legislation compels a parent to claim child maintenance unless they can demonstrate they have good cause not to do so. Where they cannot demonstrate this, their benefit is automatically reduced by up to £24.20 per week. The new legislation will remove this potential hardship. Also, parents with care will be able to keep up to £20 per week of child maintenance before it affects the amount of benefits they receive. This will then be increased to up to £40 per week by the end 2010.
The legislation is being accelerated to ensure Northern Ireland is in line with Great Britain.
Margaret Ritchie said: “Today I am putting the child at the heart of child maintenance payments. The present system can potentially penalise the child through deducting benefits from the parent with care. That will now stop. Also, the present system is too bureaucratic - court orders for the recovery of money from non resident parents can take a long time. I will introduce administrative liability orders issued by DSD.”
The minister then commented on the tougher new powers against non resident parents not paying their due. These include:
- the potential withdrawal of passports
- curfew orders
- criminal offence if a parent fails to notify a change of address
- recovery from earnings and bank accounts
- recovery from estate of non resident parent
These come on top of existing powers such as disqualification from driving and prison sentences.
Margaret Ritchie said: “No responsible parent need be concerned about these strengthened enforcement measures. They are aimed at those who refuse to pay, as opposed to those who cannot pay, child maintenance. I want to tackle child poverty, not maintain it. I consider it both right and fair that we should use effective measures against those who, in effect, are riding roughshod over their children.”
The new legislation will also see an Information and Support Service provided to help parents have more choice in making their own arrangements
Notes to Editors:
- For further information, please contact Philip Maguire Principal Information Officer DSD on 028 9082 9490 mobile 07788108657. Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Office via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
