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What changes are planned?
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8 October 2008
The dates given below are the latest we have been given, but the later dates are slightly provisional at this stage.
July 2008- The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission officially comes into existence. It will be responsible for the Child Support Agency, which will continue under the same name, as one ‘business arm' of the Commission.
- Lone parents who start to claim Income Support or incomebased Jobseeker's Allowance are free, from 14 July onwards, to choose whether to use the Child Support Agency to calculate and collect child maintenance for them, or not. Lone parents who were claiming one of these benefits from before that date are still expected to use the CSA (unless they state that they want to opt out) until 27 October (see below).
- C-MEC will begin to introduce a new ‘arm' of its business called the Child Maintenance Options service. Until October (see below), it is aimed mainly at lone parents who start a new claim for Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance. They will be offered access to a telephone helpline, giving information about different options to arrange child maintenance: whether to agree their own arrangements with the other parent, or use the CSA to calculate, collect and enforce maintenance payments. The new helpline may encourage parents to try to come to their own arrangements if they can. However, it is important to know that the choice is completely up to you. For example, if you cannot agree arrangements, you think the non-resident parent is or might be an unreliable payer, or if you do not want contact with the non-resident parent you can always use the Child Support Agency to calculate and collect maintenance for you. For further information about the new Options service, see www.cmoptions.org
- Lone parents who were previously receiving a reduced amount of Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance because they were refused permission to opt out of using the Child Support Agency should see their benefit increased to the full amount.
27 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 Child Support Agency to deal with their child maintenance if they don't want to. If they want, they can choose to agree their own arrangements with the other parent.
- All parents will have access to C-MEC's new Child Maintenance Options service, consisting of a helpline and a website, www.cmoptions.org, giving information and guidance on making maintenance arrangements (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 aff ects 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.)
- Lone parents on benefit who continue to receive child maintenance via the CSA's collection service will be paid any maintenance received in full. In future, they will be expected to notify Jobcentre Plus directly of any child maintenance they receive, so that their benefi t can be adjusted if the amount exceeds £20 in any week.
From April 2009/2010- The CSA will introduce a suite of new powers for debt collection and enforcement of child maintenance payments, starting with a new power to make a ‘liability order' (the order needed before tough enforcement action such as use of bailiffs can happen) without going to court; and a new power to order banks to take child maintenance payments directly from a non-resident parent's bank account. Other new powers to be introduced later will include taking away a non-resident's passport until arrears are paid.
- 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.
- The Commission 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.
- Starting probably in 2009/2010 (or possibly later) existing CSA parents will be asked to make a choice: whether to transfer over to the new C-MEC system (see below); whether to make their own arrangements in future; or whether to continue as they are, but using a simple ‘cash transfer' scheme where amounts cannot be altered. Where parents disagree about opting in or out of the new C-MEC system, the parent wishing to use the new system has priority.
2010- Starting in April 2010, lone parents receiving Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance will be allowed to keep any child maintenance they receive in full, without it affecting their benefit.
2011- Starting in 2011, 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 during the year if there is a 25 per cent change in income or the non-resident parent loses or starts a job.
Next page: Will everyone go on to the new scheme straight away? What about arrears owed to me?
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