House of Commons Amendments

House of Commons

Session 2006 - 07
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Public Bill Committee: 11th October 2007
154

Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill, continued

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

51

Clause  39,  page  36,  line  6,  at end insert ‘(subject to subsection (3))’.

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

52

Clause  39,  page  36,  line  6,  at end insert—

‘(2)
The Secertary of State must publish a report on the systems that will be put in

place to facilitate information sharing between Her Majesty’s Revenue and

Customs and the Commission.

(3)
A Minister of the Crown must make a motion in each House of Parliament in

relation to the report mentioned in subsection (2) before the coming into effect of

Schedule 6.’.

Andrew Selous

Mr Mark Harper

Mr Stewart Jackson

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

120

Schedule  6,  page  69,  line  8,  at end insert—

‘5A(1)
This paragraph applies to information which is held for the purposes of Court

proceedings in which the non-resident parent is a party—

(a)
by the Court, or

(b)
by a person providing services to the Court.

      (2)
Information to which this paragraph applies may be supplied—

(a)
to the Commission, or

(b)
to a person providing services to the Commission,


for use for the purposes of functions relating to child support.’.

Andrew Selous

Mr Mark Harper

Mr Stewart Jackson

16

Page  36,  line  7,  leave out Clause 40.

Mr Mike Weir

95

Clause  50,  page  41,  line  45,  at end add—

Public Bill Committee: 11th October 2007
155

Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill, continued

‘(7)
The Secretary of State must consult with all organisations with a relevant material

interest prior to making regulations under this Act.’.

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

136

Schedule  7,  page  69,  line  16,  at end insert—

  ‘(1A)
In section 4 (child support maintenance), in subsection (10)(a), after “written

maintenance agreement” insert “or a registered minute of agreement”’.

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

137

Schedule  7,  page  69,  line  16,  at end insert—

  ‘(1A)
In that section, in subsection (10)(aa) (which refers to maintenance orders)—

(a)
insert at beginning “a registered minute of agreement made after 5th

April 1993 or”

(b)
for “one year” substitute “48 months”’.

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

138

Schedule  7,  page  69,  line  16,  at end insert—

  ‘(1A)
In section 7 (right of child in Scotland to apply for assessment), in subsection

(10), after “written maintenance agreement” insert “or a registered minute of

agreement”’.

Mr James Plaskitt

134

Schedule  7,  page  69,  line  19,  at end insert—

      ‘()
In section 20 (appeals to appeal tribunals), in subsection (1), after paragraph

(b) insert—

“(ba)
a decision of the Commission to make a liability order under

section 32I;”.

      ()
In subsection (2) of that section, after paragraph (a) insert—

“(aa)
in relation to paragraph (ba), the person against whom the

order is made;”.

      ()
After subsection (5) of that section insert—

“(5A)
An appeal lies by virtue of subsection (1)(ba) only on the following

grounds—

(a)
that the person has not failed to pay an amount of child support

maintenance;

(b)
that the amount in respect of which the liability order is made

exceeds the amount of child support maintenance which the

person has failed to pay.”

      ()
After subsection (7) of that section insert—

Public Bill Committee: 11th October 2007
156

Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill, continued

“(7A)
In deciding an appeal against a decision of the Commission to make a

liability order, an appeal tribunal shall not question the maintenance

calculation by reference to which the liability order was made.”’.

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

139

Schedule  7,  page  69,  line  19,  at end insert—

  ‘(2A)
In section 9 (agreements about maintenance), for subsection 1, substitute—

  “(1)
In this section—

“maintenance agreement” means any agreement for the making, or for

securing the making, of periodical payments by way of

maintenance, or in Scotland aliment, to or for the benefit of any

child.

“registered minute of agreement” means any agreement containing

provisions relating wholly or partly to maintenance, or in Scotland

aliment, to or for the benefit of any child which has been registered

for execution in the Books of Council and Session or the sheriff

court books.”’.

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

140

Schedule  7,  page  69,  line  19,  at end insert—

  ‘(2A)
In that section, in subsection (2), at end add “or a registered minute of

agreement”’.

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

141

Schedule  7,  page  69,  line  19,  at end insert—

  ‘(2A)
In that section, in subsection (3)—

(a)
after “section 4(10)(a)” insert “and (aa)”

(b)
after “written maintenance agreement” insert “or a registered minute

of agreement.”’.

Mr James Plaskitt

135

Schedule  7,  page  69,  line  26,  at end insert—

      ‘()
In section 32(7) (regulations about appeals), after “include” insert “—

(a)
provision with respect to the period within which a right of

appeal under the regulations may be exercised;

(b)
”.’.

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

142

Schedule  7,  page  72,  line  9,  at end insert—

Public Bill Committee: 11th October 2007
157

Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill, continued

‘“registered minute of agreement” has the meaning given in section

9(1) of the Child Support Act 1991.’.

Mr James Plaskitt

130

Clause  54,  page  42,  line  33,  after ‘Sections’ insert ‘20(5A),’.

Mr James Plaskitt

131

Clause  54,  page  42,  line  33,  leave out ‘32K,’.

Mr James Plaskitt

132

Clause  54,  page  42,  line  37,  after ‘Sections’ insert ‘20(7A),’.

Mr James Plaskitt

133

Clause  54,  page  42,  line  37,  leave out ‘32K,’.

Andrew Selous

Mr Mark Harper

Mr Stewart Jackson

14

Clause  57,  page  43,  line  22,  after ‘sections’, insert ‘16, [Duty of HM Revenue and

Customs to ascertain financial circumstances of non-resident parent],’.

New Clauses

Application to Commission by third party

Andrew Selous

Mr Mark Harper

Mr Stewart Jackson

NC1

To move the following Clause:—

‘Where a child’s welfare is at risk because appropriate maintenance arrangements

have not been established, a third party specified by the Secretary of State can, on

behalf of the child, make an application to the Commission.’.

Public Bill Committee: 11th October 2007
158

Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill, continued

Duty of HM Revenue and Customs to ascertain financial circumstances of non-resident

parent

Andrew Selous

Mr Mark Harper

Mr Stewart Jackson

NC2

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
In section 11 of the Child Support Act 1991 (maintenance calculations) after

subsection (6) insert—

“(6A)
Where subsection (6) applies or an application for a variation under

section 28 has been made by either the non-resident parent or the parent

with care and any question arises concerning the income of the non-

resident parent—

(a)
HMRC shall take all reasonable steps to investigate and verify

the financial circumstances of the non-resident parent in order to

establish his income for the purposes of this Act or regulations

made under it;

(b)
the non-resident parent shall provide such information as is

required by HMRC in order to verify the financial information

submitted by him or on his behalf.”.

(2)
After subsection (8) of that section insert—

“(8A)
In this section “HMRC” means the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s

Revenue and Customs.”’.

Enhanced enforcement to coincide with changes to the calculation of maintenance

Andrew Selous

Mr Mark Harper

Mr Stewart Jackson

NC3

To move the following Clause:—

‘When applying section 57 of this Act, the Secretary of State shall only

implement the provisions contained in sections 19 to 28 inclusive of this Act on

such day as the provisions contained in section 16 and [Duty of HM Revenue and

Customs to ascertain financial circumstances of non-resident parent] of this Act

also come into force.’.

Public Bill Committee: 11th October 2007
159

Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill, continued

Power of parental enforcement

Andrew Selous

Mr Mark Harper

Mr Stewart Jackson

NC4

To move the following Clause:—

‘If the Commission fails to enforce a maintenance assessment in a reasonable

period, the parent with care can request that a liability order be issued which can

be enforced independently through the county court.’.

Information required by the Commission

Andrew Selous

Mr Mark Harper

Mr Stewart Jackson

NC5

To move the following Clause:—

‘In section 14 of the Child Support Act 1991 (information requirements), after

subsection (1A) insert—

“(2)
Regulations under subsection (1) shall in particular require a person, who

is subject to a change of circumstance which would result in a decision

by the Commission to superseding an earlier decision under section 17 of

the Act on non-resident parents, to furnish the Commission with

information and evidence regarding the said change of circumstances

within 42 days.”.’.

Financial circumstances of non-resident parent

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

NC6

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
In section 11 of the Child Support Act 1991 (maintenance calculations) after

subsection (6) insert—

“(6A)
Where subsection (6) applies or an application for a variation under

section 28 has been made by either the non-resident parent or the parent

with care and any question arises concerning the income of the non-

resident parent—

(a)
the Commission shall take all reasonable steps to investigate and

verify the financial circumstances of the non-resident parent in

order to establish his income for the purposes of this Act or

regulations made under it;

Public Bill Committee: 11th October 2007
160

Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill, continued

(b)
the non-resident parent shall provide such information as is

required by the Commission in order to verify the financial

information submitted by him or on his behalf.” ’.

Report on private arrangements

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

NC7

To move the following Clause:—

‘The Secretary of State must, within one year of the coming into force of this

section, conduct and publish research on—

(a)
the number of parents expected to reach private arrangements;

(b)
parents’ perceptions of the efficacy of private arrangements;

(c)
the possible effect of removing the compulsion for parents with care

claiming state benefits to use the Commission on the number of such

parents with maintenance arrangements in place.’.

Shared care

Andrew Selous

Mr Mark Harper

Mr Stewart Jackson

NC10

To move the following Clause:—

‘The Secretary of State must, prior to the establishment of the Commission,

publish a report which analyses whether the reduction in maintenance due to

shared care, or any other factor, is leading to a reduction in shared care.’.

Provision of advice

Danny Alexander

Paul Rowen

NC12

To move the following Clause:—