Child support reform in the UK: 3 years on

Dadomo, Christian

Abstract

The Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 which received Royal Assent on 5 June 2008 aims to re-design the child support system as established in 1993 by the conservative government and amended under the Blair government. Both the original and the amended version of the system proved to be a failure.
With effect from 14 July 2008, the new Act notably abolished the former requirement that parents with care in receipt of state benefits must apply for child maintenance through the Child Support Agency (CSA).
It also replaced the inefficient and long criticised CSA with the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (C-MEC), which is now up and running.
One of the main principles upon which the new system is based is that the state should get involved only when parents cannot come to an agreement themselves or when one of them attempts to evade their responsibilities. The Act therefore encourages parents to make private maintenance arrangements for their children. However, these “voluntary maintenance agreements” are not legally binding.
The Act also makes a number of changes to the rules on child support maintenance calculations with the view to simplifying and improving the assessment process.
After briefly setting out the background to the government’s decision to reform the child support system, this paper analysed the various changes brought by the new Act, assess whether or not it marks the radical departure for a new and efficient child support policy in the UK and finally assess its future and potential impact when fully implemented.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: International Society of Family Law (ISFL), 14th World Conference - Intergenerational obligations
• Start Date: Jul 19, 2011
• End Date: Jul 23, 2011
• Acceptance Date: Jul 20, 2011
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2011
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008, Child Support Agency, Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, C-MEC, reform of the child support system
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/967794
• Additional Information: Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : International Society of Family Law (ISFL), 14th World Conference