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Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill

The amendment could be used to open loopholes or to encourage non-compliant parents to lodge their money with people who are not covered by the term ““deposit taker””. We would like to prescribe others who are likely to hold money on behalf of the non-resident parent in secondary legislation—an issue that I also touched on earlier. We are currently further investigating those funds not held in accounts that might be prescribed for the purposes of lump sum orders. However, the amendment would mean money held on behalf of the non-resident parent by, for example, lawyers and accountants would be inaccessible to the commission. That was probably not intended, but it would be the import of the amendment. On Amendments Nos. 119 and 151, I assure noble Lords that in both instances the clauses already achieve what the amendments strive for in that there is already a power to include in regulations a requirement on the deposit taker to provide details of when an account is closed. Indeed, the banks have an obligation to notify the commission if the NRP closes the account or opens other accounts, where that information is available to the banks. In the case of a lump-sum deduction order, the greatest amount at which the order will be set is the amount of arrears stated when the order was first made. It cannot be increased beyond that amount and is intended to be collected in one payment rather than over a period. However, it is acknowledged that the order will continue where there is an insufficient amount available to be deducted in that one payment. Again, we touched on that earlier. Amendment No 126 would remove the power of the Secretary of State to provide in regulations for the circumstances in which a request may be made for a review of a deduction order. It is worth noting that this particular subsection is extended as part of the Government’s amendments. It now includes a regulation-making power to provide a right for the parties affected by an order imposed, including joint account holders, to request a review. This is not an appeal. The amendment would allow regulations providing for the order to be varied, but only on the initiative of the commission. It would not allow for an application for a review by the non-resident parent. At this stage, we envisage that the right to request a review will be available in cases of hardship or a significant change of circumstances. We are however happy to hear views on the appropriate grounds for review. All the regulations relating to this clause will be subject to the affirmative procedure. Finally, Amendment No. 116 seeks to require the commission to impose an order that applies to maintenance arrears, to ongoing maintenance, or to both. In reality, however, these are the only three options. The current drafting is permissive in recognition that we give the commission the option to use regular deduction orders to collect both past and future maintenance. I therefore urge the noble Lord to withdraw the amendment.