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Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill

The amendment requires the Secretary of State to define in regulations the meaning of effective maintenance arrangements and appropriate voluntary arrangements. The noble Lord is right that these two terms are critical to the commission’s objectives. As such, throughout the passage of the Bill we have been absolutely clear about their meaning. Effective arrangements are arrangements that have the desired effect; in other words, arrangements that are working. Typically that would be where maintenance is flowing, but it is wherever both parties are complying with the arrangement they have agreed to or, in the statutory maintenance scheme, the arrangement imposed on them by law. That seems pretty straightforward. Appropriate voluntary arrangements are arrangements that are suitable to the circumstances of the parents in question, particularly in terms of the level of any agreement. By definition, that needs to be considered on a case-by-case basis and is therefore not suitable for secondary legislation. Overall, it is difficult to see what further clarity regulations could bring in this area. We are also concerned that in an attempt to provide a detailed definition in secondary legislation, we lose some flexibility of application that is important for dealing with the incredible variety of personal circumstances facing the commission. For example, only the parents in question can determine the arrangement that is appropriate for them. The system would not work if the commission was attempting to apply a standard, legal interpretation of appropriateness or suitability. The noble Lords, Lord Kirkwood and Lord Skelmersdale, asked whether arrangements will automatically mirror what would come from the statutory system. They will not inevitably mirror them if they are voluntary arrangements, but I expect that voluntary arrangements would be entered into with the knowledge of what the statutory system would deliver and therefore what wrap-around or alternative is available to parents should the voluntary arrangement not succeed to be effective. I do not see any particular difficulty in that. Although I would expect that voluntary arrangements would not inevitably be linked to the formula, I would expect them to have regard to that formula; otherwise there is a risk that they would be unsustainable. On that basis, I hope the noble Lord will withdraw the amendment. I do not see that secondary legislation will be helpful in adding to the words that are already there.