---

Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill

moved Amendment No. 197: 197: After Clause 36, insert the following new Clause— ““Disclosure of information relating to family proceedings (1) After section 49A of the Child Support Act 1991 (c.48) (inserted by section 32 of this Act), insert— ““49AA Disclosure of information relating to family proceedings (1) Where this section applies, a disclosure of information relating to family proceedings, made to the Commission, or to a person providing services to the Commission, by a party to the proceedings is not (if it would otherwise be) a contempt of court or punishable as a contempt of court. (2) This section applies if— (a) the party is a person with care or non-resident parent in relation to a child, (b) child support maintenance is payable, or an application for a maintenance calculation has been made, in respect of the child, and (c) the party reasonably considers that the information is relevant to the exercise of the Commission’s functions relating to child support in relation to the child. (3) This section also applies if— (a) an application for a maintenance calculation has been made under section 7(1) by the party, or child support maintenance is payable in accordance with a maintenance calculation made on an application made under section 7(1) by the party, and (b) the party reasonably considers that the information is relevant to the exercise of the Commission’s functions relating to child support in relation to the party. (4) A disclosure by a party’s representative is to be treated for the purposes of this section as a disclosure by the party, if the representative is instructed by the party to make the disclosure. (5) In this section, ““representative”” means (a) in England and Wales— (i) a barrister or a solicitor, solicitor’s employee or other authorised litigator (as defined in the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990) who has been instructed to act for a party in relation to the proceedings, (ii) a non-professional person who gives lay advice on behalf of an organisation in the lay advice sector, or (iii) any person permitted by the court to sit beside an unrepresented litigant in court to assist that litigant by prompting, taking notes and giving advice to the litigant; (b) in Scotland, a legal representative. (6) This section does not apply if the court dealing with the proceedings so directs. 49AB Meaning of ““family proceedings”” (1) In section 49AA, ““family proceedings”” means any of the following proceedings commenced on or after the day on which that section comes into force— (a) proceedings for ancillary relief (within the meaning of subsection (2)); (b) proceedings under section 17 of the Married Women’s Property Act 1882 (questions between husband and wife as to property); (c) proceedings under any of the following provisions of the 1973 Act— (i) section 27 (financial provision in cases of neglect to maintain); (ii) section 35 (alteration of maintenance agreements); (d) proceedings under Part 1 of the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1978 (powers of court to make orders for financial provision); (e) proceedings relating to orders for financial provision within the meaning of section 8 of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1984; (f) proceedings relating to an action for aliment within the meaning of section 2 of that Act; (g) proceedings under Part 3 of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 (financial relief in England and Wales after overseas divorce etc.); (h) proceedings under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989 (financial provision for children); (i) proceedings under sections 33 to 40 of the Family Law Act 1996 (occupation orders); (j) proceedings under any of the following provisions of the 2004 Act— (i) section 66 (disputes between civil partners about property); (ii) paragraph 41 of Schedule 5 (orders where failure to maintain); (iii) paragraph 69 of Schedule 5 (alteration of maintenance agreements by the court); (iv) Schedule 6 (financial relief in magistrates’ courts etc.); (v) Schedule 7 (financial relief in England and Wales after overseas dissolution etc. of a civil partnership). (2) In subsection (1), ““ancillary relief”” means any of the following— (a) an order under section 37(2)(b) or (c) of the 1973 Act or paragraph 74(3) or (4) of Schedule 5 to the 2004 Act (avoidance of disposition orders); (b) any of the orders mentioned in section 21(1) of the 1973 Act (except an order under section 27(6) of that Act) or any of the orders mentioned in paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 5 to the 2004 Act (financial provision orders) made under Part 1 of that Schedule; (c) an order under section 22 of the 1973 Act (orders for maintenance pending suit); (d) an order under paragraph 38 of Schedule 5 to the 2004 Act (orders for maintenance pending outcome of proceedings); (e) any of the orders mentioned in section 21(2) of the 1973 Act or any of the orders mentioned in paragraph 7(1) of Schedule 5 to the 2004 Act (property adjustment orders); (f) an order under section 31 of the 1973 Act or an order under Part 11 of Schedule 5 to the 2004 Act (variation orders); (g) an order under section 24B of the 1973 Act or an order under paragraph 15 of Schedule 5 to the 2004 Act (pension sharing orders). (3) The Secretary of State may by order amend this section so as to provide that ““family proceedings”” in section 49AA includes proceedings of a description specified in the order, other than proceedings commenced before the day on which the order comes into force. (4) An order under subsection (3) may be made only with the consent of the Lord Chancellor. (5) In this section— ““the 1973 Act”” means the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973; ““the 2004 Act”” means the Civil Partnership Act 2004.”” The noble Lord said: I also speak to Amendments Nos. 198, 199, 216, 218 and 221. This group of amendments facilitates the disclosure of information relating to certain family proceedings that is relevant to the child maintenance functions of the commission, in particular the calculation, collection and enforcement of child maintenance. It enables such disclosure to the commission by the parties to those proceedings without the risk of those parties being found in contempt of court. In certain family proceedings, such as ancillary relief proceedings on divorce, a non-resident parent may disclose information in court documents about his or her income, or the court may make a finding regarding the non-resident parent’s financial circumstances, property or assets that were not previously known to the parent with care or the Child Support Agency. That information could have a significant impact on the amount of child maintenance the child receives and could also be relevant to help enforce child maintenance arrears. It is not uncommon for the agency either to receive court documents from a party to family proceedings without requesting them, or to require information from a person involved in family proceedings in order to make a decision regarding a maintenance calculation or its variation. It is often the case that those providing the information do so in good faith and with the intention of benefiting the child concerned and do not appreciate the necessity in some proceedings of obtaining the court’s permission first. However, at present, if information relating to certain court proceedings is disclosed voluntarily to the agency, the person making the disclosure may be found to be in contempt of court unless permission to disclose the information is obtained from the court first or court rules otherwise authorise such a disclosure. Even if a person was required to disclose the information relating to ancillary relief proceedings and some other family proceedings by the agency in accordance with the Child Support (Information, Evidence and Disclosure) Regulations 1992, it is possible, though unlikely, that a court could find that person in contempt when disclosure of such information is not permitted by court rules. The position is complicated, but our intentions are simple; we do not think that it is right that some parents should be able to hide the true picture of their income and earnings behind court proceedings. Those who disclose this information to the agency do so to ensure that their children get the amount of maintenance they are entitled to and should not run the risk of being held in contempt of court. Removing the need to apply for permission to the court will speed up the process, get maintenance flowing to children as soon as possible and protect those acting in the best interests of their children but who unwittingly may be found in contempt of court because they are unaware of the legal rules relating to this. Following the Committee debate in the other place, the Government agreed that parties and their representatives should be free to disclose information relevant to the commission’s functions without such disclosure being contempt of court if they are a parent with care, a non-resident parent or, in Scotland, a child of 12 or over, when child maintenance is payable. The amendments give the court the discretion to disapply this provision if it sees fit. We recognise that there has not been time for any formal consultation on this amendment, so I would like to take this opportunity to commit to consulting the relevant bodies about how this amendment is workable in practice. The Government’s aim is to help to ensure that maintenance calculations are fair and accurate and that children receive the amount of maintenance to which they are entitled. These amendments help to do that, but at the same time provide safeguards for those individuals who disclose this information. I beg to move.