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Written question asked by Martyn Day (Scottish National Party) on Thursday, 26 September 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 1 October 2019 (named day). It was answered by Mims Davies (Conservative) on Tuesday, 1 October 2019 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Children: Maintenance

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2019 to Question 285165 on Children: Maintenance, for what reasons she has not made an assessment of the effect on equality of calculating child maintenance liabilities using gross income due to different tax liabilities in the constituent parts of the UK.

Answer

An assessment of the decision to use gross income to calculate child maintenance liabilities was carried out when we developed the 2012 statutory scheme.

It is important that the rules used to calculate a child maintenance liability are applied consistently to avoid the complexities for clients that would result from applying different rules to different parts of the UK. The maintenance calculation is designed to be affordable for the non-resident parent, while still ensuring that they contribute a significant proportion of their income to support children they no longer live with.

There is no evidence to suggest that parents are disproportionately affected by the decision to use gross income, because of where they reside in the UK.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
291411
Session
2017-19
Related items
Children: Maintenance
Thursday, 5 September 2019
Written questions
House of Commons
Social Services: Fees and Charges
Tuesday, 7 January 2020
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects
Children Equality Maintenance Personal income Parents
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk