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Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill

moved Amendment No. 3: 3: Clause 2, page 1, line 17, at end insert— ““(c) to promote among parents and prospective parents awareness of the responsibilities of parenthood.”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, the amendments in this group are in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Northbourne, who gives his apologies that he is unable to be here tonight. The aim of the amendments is simple: to promote among parents the responsibilities of parenthood; to achieve the objectives of making it easier to collect child maintenance; and to further the Government’s policy as stated in Every Child Matters. Responsibilities are around safeguarding the child’s health, development and care. Parenthood and family are vital to a child’s upbringing. Today, 15 per cent of children are born into homes with no resident father. About 50,000 children a year permanently lose all meaningful contact with their father, which is approximately 137 children a day across the country. The statistics get worse when you consider that a child who has experienced family breakdown is more likely to fail at school, fall prey to drug addiction and have alcohol problems. We know that a child who grows up with two committed, supportive parents is more likely to have better life chances. Unlike Scotland, England has no clear statement in statute law about the responsibilities of parenthood. A significant number of men do not realise or accept any obligation to provide for the needs of any child who they bring into the world. If the Government and Parliament are not prepared to state clearly that in this country a father has an obligation, jointly with the child’s mother, to ensure that his child gets financial support and supportive parenting, it is unreasonable to expect teachers to teach that fact in school, or to first-time parents, or to those seeking citizenship in this country. If parents and prospective parents do not understand that obligation, many will continue to think that child maintenance is an unfair imposition and will do their best to avoid paying it. Amendments Nos. 3 and 4 would increase the probability of parents fulfilling their maintenance obligations by putting those obligations in context and ensuring as far as possible that every parent and prospective parent is aware of the wider context. Amendments Nos. 5 and 6 would in the first place ensure that the obligation to pay child maintenance is taught to and is understood by young people before they become parents. Amendments Nos. 7 and 8 would ensure that all parents and prospective parents are aware of their responsibility not only to pay child maintenance but to give such other parenting support as they can to the child. I expect—I might even say I fear—that, in his response, the Minister will echo the words of his noble friend Lord Davies of Oldham on 25 April that, "““it is not for the Government to differentiate between the ways in which households are constructed, although it is for the Government to deal with the consequences, particularly for children, when problems occur””.—[Official Report, 25/4/08; col. 1825.]" The noble Lord told me that the Government would look at the red book that is given to parents. What progress is being made on that? I urge the Government to stop trying to deal with the problems just by managing the consequences and, instead, to look at the root causes, because the children of this country deserve better. I beg to move.