More than 200 have bank accounts frozen under new powers, as number of children covered by commission passes 800,000
Officials have moved to seize the properties of more than 300 fathers who have defaulted on child maintenance payments, in a marked toughening of the approach towards serial non-payers.
More than 200 parents not living with their children ‑ almost all of them men ‑ have also had their bank accounts frozen in the five months since the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) was given powers to do so.
The measures reflect the commission's determination to improve the record of the much-criticised Child Support Agency, which it took over in 2008 and which it intends to replace over the next four years. The latest figures show that the number of children benefiting from maintenance payments through the agency is exceeding 800,000 for the first time.
The figures also show that the maintenance collection system continues to be dogged by chronic computer problems that have forced 80,000 cases to be managed clerically at a cost three times that of computerised cases. There is no prospect of the clerical cases being returned to the computer systems before they are superseded in 2014.
The Guardian has learned that, under the CMEC, some 340 properties owned by indebted parents have been made subject to "order for sale" proceedings. As 95% of non-resident parents are men, the great majority of these properties will belong to fathers who have defaulted on payments.
LinkNow, this sounds like a good idea compared to most things they do.
