Schedule 4
Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill
5:00 pm
Paul Rowen (Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions; Rochdale, Liberal Democrat)
The amendment proposes that there should not be a taper, so the percentage figures that are quoted for the first £800—12 per cent. for the first child, 16 per cent. for two and 19 per cent. for three—would be a flat rate. We do not see why wealthier parents should not share that wealth with their children, and we want to know why the £800 threshold and reduced percentages have been chosen. As far as we are aware, there is no rationale behind them.