| |
Lone Parents and the Law: Discussion
|
|
| |
Participant 1
How can someone justify the low levels the government expects individuals to survive on? When paternity is opposed, how can resident parents enforce paternity?
Baroness Hollis
20,000 men a year contest paternity. If he refuses the test, an assumption of paternity is allowed. It is almost always the case that the DNA test confirms paternity. There is no expense on the part of the mother.
Participant 1
My case has been going on since 1995. The CSA have not enforced the test, as he keeps moving. I have had only one instance of contact with the CSA since this began.
Kate Green, One Parent Families
There is a public perception that cheating the CSA is a smart thing to do. Has there really been a shift in attitude?
Participant 2
I think there has been a shift for women. They are more comfortable using the CSA. The stigma, though still present, has been reduced.
Participant 3
Would it be appropriate to give the CSA more power and manpower?
Participant 1
They already have too much power. They can remove money from people's bank accounts or wages.
Participant 4
I know of a person who has managed to escape the CSA. The CSA know where this individual is, but because of his legal manoeuvres, they cannot touch him. This has gone on for four years. They need more power. They need the authority to go to the person's house and question them about their non-payment.
Mavis Maclean
It is a huge task facing the CSA. We are not disputing any longer whether a payment should be made from parent to child, as we were two decades ago. It is now a question of enforcing payment.
Participant 5
I have been involved with the CSA for 10 years and received no money. Respectable individuals with plenty of money and security can avoid paying, through the tax credits system. As my ex-partner is claiming tax credits, the matter becomes an issue for fraud investigation by Inland Revenue. The CSA causes bureaucratic headaches for those who avoid payments, but that is all. If they do not want to pay, they will not.
Beatrix Campbell (Chair)
The balance of rights between children and parents is an issue to consider. Fathers accused of domestic violence or sexual abuse have been empowered by the Children Act to intervene in children's lives. They have the right to be involved in consultations.
Mavis Maclean
It is appropriate that both parents are involved. It would be wrong to exclude a parent if there exists only an accusation, not a conviction. Would you suggest that as soon as an allegation is made a parent should be excluded from the process?
Beatrix Campbell (Chair)
Even parents serving prison sentences for sexual offences have a legal right to involve themselves in the process.
Mavis Maclean
Keeping men involved is very important, but the central concern of the Children Act is to preserve children's rights.
Baroness Hollis
We are moving from parental responsibilities to parental rights. There is an automatic assumption that what the mother wants is best for the child; this is not always the reality. Arguing over a property right dependent on ownership of a child, regardless of the child's welfare, is turning the clock back 50 years. I wonder how we could shore up independent assessments of a child's welfare against these other interests.
Mavis Maclean
The beauty of the Children Act is that it keeps children's rights centre stage, and gives them primacy over those of adults.
|
...Back to previous page
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
