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Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness. I understand that this is a probing amendment and I hope that I can give her and the noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, the assurances that they seek. Schedule 6 enables certain relevant information to be supplied to the commission by HMRC, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Northern Ireland department to enable the commission to carry out its functions relating to child support. That is a very important caveat. In turn, the commission is also able to supply information to those government departments to enable them to carry out certain specified functions for which they are responsible. Our plans to support information sharing between the commission, DWP and HMRC will improve administration of the child maintenance calculation regime, by providing the commission with easy access to relevant gross income data. The problems of the current system have been well documented. By not having to ask non-resident parents for income data in the majority of cases, and by being able to rely on already available income data as provided by HMRC, we will improve the efficiency of the assessment process and provide a better service to parents. Removing Clause 44 and Schedule 6 would mean that the commission would have to request income information from the non-resident parent. That would undermine the case for basing liabilities on gross weekly income. It would also carry the risk that current delays in calculating maintenance and getting money to children would be repeated in the future scheme. Obtaining income data from HMRC will also provide vital support to the proposed system of fixed-term awards, helping to ensure that maintenance calculations are kept accurate, up to date and easy to administer. We cannot overstate the necessity of a simple and efficient calculation system for the smooth running of the child maintenance service. We estimate that the commission will be able to obtain data for about 90 per cent of all non-resident parents by combining information available through the gateways. This includes the self-employed, who have proved particularly difficult to assess in the past. We are currently investigating the most effective way to transfer data. Although ultimately this will be a decision for the commission, we will start work as early as possible to ensure that the IT is efficient, functional and, above all, secure. The information the commission will receive will not be substantially different from the information currently used by the Child Support Agency to make maintenance calculations. The Data Protection Act 1998 will apply to this information, which will be processed in accordance with the Act. Section 50 of the Child Support Act 1991 will be extended. A person will be committing a criminal offence if they inappropriately disclose information obtained as a result of working for, or on behalf of, the commission. We will publicise the planned use of HMRC data so that non-resident parents, and parents with care, are fully aware that gross income data will be used to make maintenance calculations, and also provide parents with as much information as possible about their claim. We will build in safeguards to ensure that inappropriate or excessive information is not accessible by commission staff and to ensure that all persons with care, and non-resident parents, are aware of the appeals process operated by, and the legal obligations of, the commission. I hope that I have given the noble Baroness the assurances that she seeks. It is an important area that she has probed, but it is vital that we have these gateways to make a more effective commission.