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Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, for these amendments, which relate to appeal rights in respect of the offsetting provisions in Clause 29. I hope it will be helpful if I first set out briefly how we are intending to operate this provision, which is specifically designed to allow the commission to respond to the concerns and individual circumstances of parents. The clause has two parts. In the first part we are seeking a power to enable the commission to offset maintenance liabilities between parents of the same children. We envisage that this will occur mainly where a child is living with one parent but later goes on to live with the other. We generally refer to these as ““role reversal”” cases. If maintenance arrears are due to the first parent with care, the provision will allow the commission to offset them against his or her maintenance liability on becoming the non-resident parent. That will prevent situations that currently occur, where parents complain that they are being chased for maintenance even though the other parent owes them maintenance. In the second part of the provision, we are providing a power to enable the commission to offset payments made from time to time by the non-resident parent to third parties, against their maintenance liability. That is intended to cover situations where a non-resident parent makes a payment that will be beneficial to the child—for example, an urgent electricity bill—on behalf of the parent with care, perhaps before he is due to pay his maintenance. Without such a provision, where such a payment is made the non-resident parent is still legally required to pay the full amount of maintenance, which means meeting his liability twice. We want to allow the commission to be able to adopt a sensible approach that reflects arrangements agreed between the parents and to offset the payment against the maintenance liability where it is appropriate to do so. For both parts of the provision, regulations will set out parameters within which the commission can use the power. In respect of payments made to third parties, that will include the types of payment that will be appropriate for offsetting, such as the one-off payment of a utility bill. Most importantly, it will be made clear that the parent with care must have agreed to the payment being made in the first place. It will then be up to the commission to decide whether to offset the payment against the non-resident parent’s maintenance liability. In all offsetting scenarios, the welfare of any children affected by the decision should always be considered. These amendments seek to afford appeal rights when the commission decides to apply offsetting in these scenarios, and Amendment No. 182 seeks appeal rights in respect of both parts of the provision and only for the parent with care if they believe that the decision is not in the best interests of the qualifying child. Amendments Nos. 183 and 212 seek to provide appeal rights specifically in respect of the offsetting of payments made to third parties, and that no action is taken until sufficient time has elapsed for an appeal to be brought. I must make it clear that before making any offsetting decision, the commission will discuss the implications with both parents and it will consider any representations made, including whether the welfare of their children may be put at risk. We do not believe that it would be appropriate to allow appeal rights in these limited situations which relate to the collection of child maintenance. In making a decision, the commission will be required to balance the needs of both parents and all children affected, and that will include children being cared for by both the parent with care and the non-resident parent. As with other matters relating to the collection of maintenance payments, if either the parent with care or the non-resident parent is still not happy with the way the commission decides to apply these provisions, they may apply for judicial review of the decision. I know that that is something of a long stop, but I hope that the noble Lord will feel reassured that there is enough protection and engagement along the way to avoid the necessity of strictly technical appeal rights and that there is the opportunity for both parents and, more importantly the children involved, to be fully protected.