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What changes are planned?
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April 2008
The dates given below are those that the Government is aiming for, but there may be delays.
July 2008- The Child Support Agency (CSA) will be replaced by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (C-MEC).
- Lone parents who start to claim Income Support or incomebased Jobseeker's Allowance will be free to choose whether to use the new C-MEC to calculate and collect child maintenance for them, or not. Currently, lone parents who claim one of these benefi ts are also automatically applying to the CSA unless they state that they wish to opt out.
- C-MEC will introduce a new ‘child maintenance options' service, aimed initially at lone parents who start a new claim for Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance. This will be a telephone helpline, giving information about different options to arrange child maintenance: whether to agree arrangements with the other parent, or use C-MEC's own service to calculate, collect and enforce maintenance payments. The new helpline may try to encourage parents to try to come to their own arrangements if they can. However, it is important to know that if you cannot agree arrangements or if you think the non-resident parent is or might be an unreliable payer, you can always use C-MEC's own child maintenance service.
- Lone parents who are currently receiving a reduced amount of Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance because they were refused permission to opt out of using the CSA will have their benefit increased to the full amount.
October 2008- All lone parents who were already on the CSA's books, and who are receiving Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, will no longer have to use the new C-MEC to deal with their child maintenance if they don't want to. They will be able to call C-MEC's new ‘child maintenance options' helpline to discuss alternatives (see above).
- All lone parents, including people who are on the ‘old' child support scheme (those who applied before 3 March 2003 and whose case has not been brought into the current scheme), and who receive Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, will be allowed to keep up to £20 each week of any maintenance paid to them before it affects the amount of benefit they receive. Currently, the maximum amount you can keep before benefit is reduced is only £10 per week, and only if you are in the current scheme.
2008/09- At some point in the next year, new powers for collection and enforcement of child maintenance payments are likely to be introduced. They include trial schemes to allow the routine collection of maintenance from earnings. Currently, this does
not happen until after payments have been missed. New enforcement powers will include the possibility of taking away
a non-resident parent's passport until arrears are paid, and ordering banks to take child maintenance payments directly
from a non-resident parent's bank account. - C-MEC is also expected to introduce new powers to write-off certain child support debts or accept a lesser sum. Debts will only be allowed to be completely written off in very limited circumstances, such as where the parent with care requests it or the non-resident parent has died and has left insufficient funds. C-MEC will be able to accept partial payment of a debt in full and final settlement, but only if the parent with care agrees. It will also be able to reduce a non-resident parent's liability, where he has made another payment as a substitute for child maintenance and the parent with care has agreed to this.
- C-MEC is expected to introduce a new provision which will allow them to claim child support debts from the estate of a non-resident parent who has died.
2010- Starting in 2010, there will be a new way of working out child maintenance. The amount will be fixed for a year and based on the non-resident parent's yearly gross income (before tax and National Insurance), using the latest available tax-year information from HM Revenue and Customs. As the new calculation will be based on gross rather than net income, the percentage of income the non-resident parent will be expected to pay is lower.
Where the income is between £200 and £800 a week, the rates
will be:
- 12 per cent gross income for one child;
- 16 per cent for two children; and
- 19 per cent for three or more children.
Where the income is over £800 a week, the rates will be 9 per cent, 12 per cent and 15 per cent on the excess above £800. The amount will only change if there is a 25 per cent change in income or the non-resident parent loses or starts a job.
- Also in 2010, the weekly amount of maintenance lone parents can receive before it aff ects any Income Support or income based Jobseeker's Allowance they receive will be increased to £40 per week.
Next page: Will everyone go on to the new scheme straight away? What about arrears owed to me?
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