New Clause 16
Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill
4:30 pm
Paul Rowen (Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions; Rochdale, Liberal Democrat)
I agree with the hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire. Dividend income is a substantial part of some people’s income, so it should be taken into account. When a family splits up, the longer the split, the more difficult it is for the parent with care to say, “This is the income source that you need to look at, and therefore you need to have a variation on it.” Once the systems are operating with HMRC, during the year in which an initial income assessment is made, based on previous years, more information, which may not be directly available to the parent with care, may come to light, demonstrating that there are considerable assets that should be taken into account in any maintenance calculation.
The situation is simple: it is about allowing the commission to initiate that variation, which is an important principle. If the systems between HMRC and the commission work well, there will not be a once-over flow of information, but a continual flow of information. Knowledge and systems operation will get better. The commission’s ability to make that variation is an important flexibility that would not detract from the principles of the Bill, but would ensure that it works better. I understand that the commission may not want to burden itself by having to run checks automatically, but that is not the point. The number of parents for whom dividend or other income sources are an important part of their income is tiny but nevertheless important. When the information comes to light, it must be acted upon, so I hope that the Minister will look on the new clause favourably and understand what we are trying to do, which is to ensure that all information and income is properly taken into account.