Lords reject child support plans

25 January 2012 Last updated at 17:42 ET

 

The Welfare Reform Bill has already run into trouble in the Lords

The coalition has suffered its biggest defeat in the Lords since being elected over plans to charge single parents to use the Child Support Agency.

An amendment by Conservative peer Lord Mackay was backed by 270 votes to 128 - the largest in a series of defeats for the Welfare Reform Bill.

He argued it was unfair to charge lone parents who had tried and failed to get their ex-partners to pay maintenance.

The government said it would seek to overturn the defeat.

On Monday, the government was defeated in the Lords in a vote on its plans for a £26,000-a-year household benefit cap.

That amendment, put forward by the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, was backed by Labour, Lib Dem and crossbench peers, but the government has insisted it will press ahead with the plan.

Wednesday's defeat over child support was by a majority of 142 - the previous largest defeat was a loss by 112 votes on plans to abolish the chief coroner.

The BBC's political correspondent Ben Geoghegan said the latest defeat was particularly significant, not just because of its scale but because the rebellion was led by a former Conservative minister and supported by so many party grandees.

The list of Tory rebels included former ministers Lord Lawson and Lord Carrington - who, like Lord Mackay, both served under Margaret Thatcher.

Cross-party support

The current system costs the taxpayer £460m a year and ministers say it leaves 1.5 million children without effective financial support.

They want to encourage parents to come to their own arrangements rather than relying on the state to set child maintenance payments.

They are seeking to introduce an up front charge of £100 or £50 plus a levy of up to 12% on maintenance payments if a single parent had taken "reasonable" steps to get the other parent to come to a voluntary agreement on child support.

The government says the poorest parents will only have to pay £20 up front and charges will not apply in cases where there has been domestic violence.

But Lord Mackay said: "I am entirely in favour of that but if that proves impossible where the woman is at the stage where there is nothing more she can do, the only thing she can do is pay.

"And what does that do? If anything that might make her not go to the Child Support Agency at all and the child may lose their maintenance."

Labour peer Lord Morris said he was "aghast" at the plan, asking: "What is the purpose of imposing on the most vulnerable people a charge of this kind?"

Tory peer Lord Newton of Braintree said he had "no problem with the case for reform", but the proposals were "not just".

Cross-bencher Baroness Butler-Sloss, a former family barrister and judge, said there were fathers "who would simply not pay".

She told peers: "The idea that a mother in very poor circumstances, where the father has left her with young children, who finds herself having to seek social benefit from the state which she may not have sought before ... she then has to pay a fee for the welfare of her children, where she may not have any money and he may have some, it is profoundly unfair."

'Financial incentive'

Speaking on behalf of the government, minister Lord De Mauley said Lord Mackay's amendment would require the state "to try to arbitrate" on whether a parent had taken reasonable steps.

He said parents could challenge the decision, adding to the "cost and complexity" of the system, and even if they were allowed to offer a "self-declaration" that they had taken all reasonable steps, the scheme would cost £200 million to the end of March 2019.

He said there must be a "clear financial incentive" to encourage parents to reach their own maintenance settlements, adding: "We no longer require parents to use the CSA. We do not want it to be the default option.

"We don't want to return to the days when the state is encouraging parents to blame each other."

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: "We are disappointed that the Lords seem content to leave in place a system that has consistently failed children and we will seek to overturn this in the House of Commons.

"Our reforms would see a doubling of support for families going through a break-up to come to their own financial arrangements with a far improved statutory scheme in place for those that really need it.

"It is right and fair that there is a charge for using a service that can cost the taxpayer around £25,000 per case and almost half a billion pounds per year."

Continue Reading... Labels: child, Lords, plans, reject, support

Widdecombe renews Lords complaint

25 November 2011 Last updated at 19:42 ET

The former MP also talked about the coalition, saying the PM had been "misguided"

Ex-MP Ann Widdecombe has renewed her complaint that she was "deliberately" snubbed by David Cameron for a peerage.

Ms Widdecombe told the BBC that as she was an "obvious candidate" for a seat in the House of Lords, it was obvious the PM had decided to exclude her.

Speaking to the Fern Britton Meets programme, the former Tory minister said she would "be a liar" if she said the decision "didn't stab a little".

Ms Widdecombe first spoke out about the apparent snub in April.

She told the BBC One programme: "It was ... let's be honest about it, a pretty pointed exclusion. I mean David Cameron was making vast quantities of peerages. He had to in order to redress the balance in the Lords.

"And I was an obvious candidate and I wasn't there and that means that he had taken a decision that I would not be there.

"I'd be a liar if I didn't say that an exclusion that pointed didn't stab just a little bit but I am a great one for saying 'It's no good looking back'."

In April, the Telegraph reported that Ms Widdecombe said she thought Mr Cameron denied her a peerage because she was "too traditional".

'Call their bluff'

The former politician, who made a popular appearance on Strictly Come Dancing last year, also talked about the coalition.

Ann Widdecombe made a popular appearance on Strictly Come Dancing last year

She said although Mr Cameron had been "brave" in some of his actions since arriving at Number 10, he had "been very misguided in the way that he's dealt with Nick Clegg in as much as he forgets who the senior members of the coalition are and the Liberals are only there because of us."

She added: "They are not there in their own right. They actually lost seats, they didn't prevail in the last election, they need reminding of that from time to time," she said.

"But he should just call their bluff and say: 'What do you want, an early election?"'

Speaking from her home in Devon, she added: "If ... he was expecting that I would sit lamenting on Dartmoor, well tough luck, he's to watch me having the time of my life."

The Fern Britton Meets programme will broadcast on BBC One, Sunday, 27 November, at 10:00 GMT and will then be available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.

Continue Reading... Labels: complaint, Lords, renews, Widdecombe