Written evidence to be reported to the House
Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill
12:00 pm
Andrew Selous (Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions; South West Bedfordshire, Conservative)
The 25 per cent. income variation has aroused a certain amount of comment. Do you think that there is perhaps a case for reducing it in terms of lower-income non-resident parents? If you are poor and you have a 24 per cent. fall in your income, this is a pretty significant rule. If you are on a hefty income, it does not make so much difference, but it is a blunt instrument for people who are counting the pennies week by week and trying to do the right thing. Would it be possible to have some sort of scale, perhaps even varying things a bit more at a higher level, so that overall this is not a cost to the Exchequer and just helps people lower down the income scale?