Written evidence to be reported to the House

Part of Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 12:00 pm on 17 July 2007.

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Janet Allbeson: There is a huge spectrum of non-compliance. Non-payment is part of it, but there are also all the other ways in which NRPs can avoid paying, such as by readjusting their financial affairs, so that they seem to have little income. At one end of the spectrum there are people who would cut off their right arms rather than ever pay, but there are people at the other end who maybe do not have much money or who have a lot of debt. They may be in a new relationship and have a new family, and they might be in and out of work and casual employment. It can be very hard to pay.

We think that CMEC has a role to play in a lot of circumstances. There could be a situation in which someone is willing to pay but relations are so bad between a couple, particularly about money, that both agree, “Let’s get CMEC to sort it out, to take some of the bitterness out, and we can deal with sorting out contact more amicably without having to argue about money.” So CMEC does have a role.

It is incredibly hard to get money from people who duck and dive and are reluctant to pay, and there has been a sort of naivety about the ability to do that. Sir David Henshaw, for example, said that it was a bit like collecting electricity costs or parking fines. Well, it is not, because there is a degree of emotion and bitterness that can build up and that we have to acknowledge. That goes for some of the contracted-out things lower down the line. We have to recognise that the case load is quite specific.

CMEC must be more than just a big stick, being hard-edged and going after people. It must acknowledge that there is often a sense of bitterness and grievance, to do with not seeing your child any more and having to parent from distance. People need support in how to do that, and they need their grievances addressed. They might need good information and advice. They might have a sense of grievance that turns out to be misplaced.

There was a departmental report on compliance, and what became apparent from reading it through was how many non-resident parents were really angry about their assessments but had not appealed against them. They had not realised that they were interim assessments, which was clear from looking at them, even to me. They assumed that that was how much they had to pay; they never realised that they could go back and sort it out. Those people may have debts.

If you can deal with some of the wider problems about why an NRP is not paying, you can maybe get the maintenance flowing again. Ideally, a good information and guidance service would offer that. As Professor Wikeley was saying, that is not just information; it is advice. It is about sitting down with someone and sorting out some of their problems, so that you unplug the gaps and help them pay. CMEC can also be a good service for people who find it difficult to pay regularly and have chaotic lives. Let us offer it as a service, not just a big stick.