Schedule 7
Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill
12:45 pm
James Plaskitt (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions; Warwick and Leamington, Labour)
As hon. Members said, we are in danger of returning to previously visited ground. However, in view of the indication that the amendment might get pressed to a vote, I will respond in some detail. It is important that the matter is understood as there may still be some misapprehensions about it.
I am going to reiterate the points that I made on 9 October. The existing 12-month rule applies in cases where parents have a consent order or a registered minute of agreement made on or after 3 March 2003. It prevents parents from applying for a maintenance calculation for the first 12 months that a consent order or minute of agreement is in place. Variations to that agreement during its first 12 months can only be secured by a return to court. Once a year has expired, either parent may apply for a maintenance calculation, thus overturning the order for the minute.
The purpose of the amendment is to extend that 12-month period to 48 months. It is not the Government’s intention to disrupt arrangements agreed between parents which are working well. We want such agreements to continue and to benefit children for as long as possible.
The 12-month rule acts as a safety net for those parents and children whose arrangements are not working out. There will be occasions when things go wrong—an agreement breaks down, circumstances unexpectedly change or a parent decides that another type of arrangement would be more suitable for the children. The 12-month rule strikes a balance between giving time for agreed arrangements to bed in and work, and, when they do not work, providing a readily available route to the commission so that fair payment of maintenance can be established as soon as possible. The amendment would lock parents into agreements that are potentially no longer working for four years, and could leave children trapped in inadequate arrangements, often without the money that they need.