Written evidence to be reported to the House
Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill
12:00 pm
Professor Wikeley: My general reaction was that, although I was expecting what I saw in the Bill, I was rather underwhelmed. A lot of it was well trailed beforehand so it would be fair to say that there were no huge surprises. In terms of what will work and what will not, that is the fundamental question because operational efficiency is what the system has been lacking. I am clear in my own mind that there need to be changes to the enforcement procedures. Whether they are the changes that I suggest is a separate issue, but clearly there need to be changes.
The big question is whether the emphasis on what academic lawyers would call private ordering will deliver in encouraging people to make private arrangements. I am afraid that I am a bit of a sceptic on that, but would like to be proved wrong.