Government seeking to reduce burden on statutory schemes
Rules aimed at eradicating child poverty and providing a cost effective service for the taxpayer may lead to single parent families missing out.
Rules regarding child maintenance, which encourage ex-couples to reach their own arrangements voluntarily, came into force this week. Those that fail to reach an agreement are to face action from the newly instigated Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC).
Janet Paraskeva, chairman of the CMEC, says: “We need to put the interests of children first and disconnecting maintenance payments from the benefits system is an important step forward.”
However, Richard Bebb, a partner at Thring Townsend Lee & Pembertons, says there is concern that single parent families who are unable to make their own arrangements may miss out altogether. There will certainly be parents that would prefer to be treated responsibly, and not be forced to use a state scheme...for unlucky single parents who cannot reach agreement, and who might not claim benefits within a voluntary system, their children may be the biggest losers in the government’s new strategy to tackle child poverty,” he says.
Bebb says that despite assurances from the CMEC that nobody will be forced to opt out of the statutory service and that it will remain available for those unable to reach private arrangements, research conducted by family charities found that up to 24% of lone parents within a voluntary system may go without child maintenance. “It seems clear that the government is trying to reduce the burden on the statutory scheme and thereby render it more effective than the Child Support Agency has been. However, single parents in receipt of benefits could be seen as a soft target because any maintenance received is simply deducted from benefits,” he adds.
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