Clause 23
Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill
1:30 pm
Danny Alexander (Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Work & Pensions; Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 123A, in clause 23, page 17, line 5, at end insert—
‘The Commission shall give 14 days notice of an intention to make an administrative liability order and shall provide to the person who has failed to pay an amount of child support maintenance an account breakdown showing how the amount claimed has alleged to have become due and thereafter.’.
In practice, prior to an application being made for a liability order, the non-resident parent is usually informed that a level of arrears exists. However, when that information is provided, the non-resident parent is often not provided with a breakdown detailing how the alleged arrears have arisen. In that regard, the National Audit Office report of 2006 confirms that in 65 per cent. of cases where liability order applications were issued the calculations made were defective to some degree.
Liability orders are dealt with by the magistrates court in England and must be made if they are
“satisfied that the payments in question have become payable by the liable person and have not been paid”.
To ensure that payments are actually made, an account breakdown is often requested by the magistrates. If it is not available at the time of the court hearing, it is adjourned until that information has been provided.
I see no reason why the commission should not be placed under the same burden of proof to provide evidence of the alleged debt, especially when it is proposed that independent judicial scrutiny is to be removed and liability orders will be made by an individual within the commission. The amendment would ensure that as well as providing the person involved with a total sum there will be a breakdown of how the sum has been calculated.