Absent parents who fail to make child support payments could find
themselves on a name and shame Web site as part of the UK government's
plans to shake up the Child Support Agency (CSA).
Letters will go out to about 100 single parents, mostly mothers,
asking if they want to give the go-ahead for the name of the child's
father to go online.
The measure is just one of many the government has announced as it
prepares to replace the CSA next year with the Child Maintenance and
Enforcement Commission (C-MEC) after 13 years of computer problems and
missed payments totaling up to 3.5 billion pounds.
Other measures planned under the Child Maintenance and Other Payments
Bill include the removal of passports and the imposition of curfews on
those who refuse to pay maintenance.
The commission will also be able to deduct cash direct from
maintenance dodgers' bank accounts and charge absent parents for the
cost of tracking them down.
Parents will be encouraged under the new system to come to private
agreements on financial support for children when they separate,
rather than being required to comply with officially set maintenance
arrangements, as the CSA does.
But critics described the name and shame approach as "gimmicky."
They also questioned the possible effect on children whose parent has
been publicly named and shamed.
The CSA already has extensive powers, they add, including access to
accounts and the right to sell the home of non-paying parents.
Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton said the powers will beef up
maintenance collection and act as a deterrent against non-payment.
"There are a small number of parents who seem to think that paying for
their kids is something they can simply choose not to do -- it isn't
-- and these new powers will mean that non-payment brings real and
lasting penalties.
The new rules, he added, will be simpler and more transparent, making
it harder to hide income.
Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited.
NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at
http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or)
http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html
*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without
profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the
understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic
issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I
believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish
to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner, in this instance,
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
For more news and headlines, please go to:
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html
Reuters News Wire (reuters@telecom-digest.org)