Memorandum submitted by Mr and Mrs Hunter
(CS 07)
We thank you for your letter of 21 April regarding
the CSA.
Prior to receiving your letter, we received
another from of the Department for Work and Pensions. We are enclosing
a copy of our subsequent reply to this letter.
We wish to use the contents of this attached
letter as our official complaint regarding the grave stress caused
to families such as ours, due to the misgivings of the so-called
Child Support Agency.
Because our son is already under much stress,
we wish the complaint to be made, not on a personal level, but
a complaint on behalf of all dads suffering the same or similar
injustices. They cannot be expected to continue paying 30% it
is ludicrous.
All we ask is that you read the attached letter,
and act on this at a meeting of inquiry, and letting us know the
outcome.
LETTER TO
THE DEPARTMENT
FOR WORK
AND PENSIONS
We feel it very necessary to write a reply to
your letter of 16 April. Your letter fails to address any issue
whatsoever mentioned by us. All you have done is reiterate the
Child Support Agency rules and regulations, which we are all so
fully aware of. We question these so-called rules and regulations
as downright criminal and words fail us as to how you can possibly
try to justify such a badly run organisation. With all due respect
you are truly a million miles away from reality.
You raise the point "All children have
the right to a decent start in life". Our son (like most
decent fathers) does not need to be given patronising comments
such as this. If he were still at home with his wife and child
they would never have contemplated allocating the ridiculous monthly
amount the CSA demand from him alone. This is on top of family
allowance received and the money the mother earns. Women are discovering
they are having a far better life than ever before, thanks to
the CSA. You state that you can understand people on the old system
wishing to transfer to the new system, yet this could take up
to five years, with no rebate! It is also stated that people on
the old system will not transfer to the new system until it is
seen to be working. We think this is the most infuriating statement
under the sun. The old system is obviously not working and yet
it is not sure if the new system is functional either! What a
disgusting state of affairs this is.
Could we ask, how YOU would feel IF you were
doing exactly the same job as a colleague, and you were paying
TWICE as much Tax as he/she. Would you not expect the Inland Revenue
to get their act in order so that everyone was equal? Would you
also think it fair that YOU would be paying twice as much for
nearly five years and there was no intention of a rebate to you?
Our son is unfortunate enough already to have
had to separate from an abusive wife, now he is treated like a
criminal with a HUGE FlNE to pay for 18 years. This is NOT RIGHT,
the outlining principle of the CSA may have been ok, BUT in reality
this is proving to be so very wrong, unrealistic figures such
as 30% is unbelievable. The CSA also shows total disregard to
the sex-discrimination act, and in our view the Human Rights Act
also.
We ask these final questions, with great sincerity.
— "Could you work every week of
your life for nothing?".
— Could you imagine your parents approaching
60 (as we are) having to sell their home to stop you reaching
a great state of depression?
— This is all fact, this is what depths
the CSA has led us to as a Family.
These are the questions that need to be addressed
and answered, THEN, someone, somewhere needs to stand up and do
something to change this whole criminal matter. We truly fail
to see how anyone with any morals could work for or represent
such an organisation as the CSA. We hold the Government totally
responsible for condoning the CSA, forcing us into selling our
home and the fact our son feels his life is hardly worth living.
9 June 2004
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