Written evidence to be reported to the House
Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill
12:00 pm
Professor Wikeley: I am not saying one instead of the other, but that one is a correlative of the other. If you have a duty to do something, presumably someone else has a right. It is a question of articulating that right. That is part of ensuring that one creates a culture of compliance. Children have a right to maintenance and you must establish a societal acceptance of that right. The way that existing legislation is phrased, it is seen simply as an onerous duty imposed on non-resident parents as a means of saving the Treasury money. We are obviously moving away from that, but it is a question of building a culture of compliance.