48.Currently a parent with care on Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or any other prescribed benefit can be required to authorise the Secretary of State to take action to recover child support maintenance. She is not required to do so if there are reasonable grounds for believing that if she did there would be a risk to her, or any child living with her, suffering harm or undue distress. This is known as “good cause” for not claiming child maintenance.
49.Under the reformed child support system, parents with care who get Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or other prescribed benefits will be treated as having applied for child support, unless they specifically request the Secretary of State not to recover child support maintenance. Where a parent with care asks the Secretary of State not to pursue maintenance the Secretary of State will decide if she has good cause not to do so and if he concludes she does not, her benefit will be reduced by a prescribed amount, currently 40% of the adult personal allowance. This benefit penalty will apply until she asks the Secretary of State to pursue maintenance or shows good cause, as now. The current definition of good cause will be retained.
50.Section 19 of this Act substitutes section 46 of the 1991 Act, which provides for a benefit penalty for parents with care to whom section 6 applies, if they refuse, without good cause, to agree to child support action for their children. While the current section 6 includes a consideration of good cause before requiring the parent to apply for child support, the amendments in section 3 will allow parents to opt out of the child support process under any circumstances. The consideration of whether there is good cause for opting out will form part of the consideration of a benefit penalty, and so is placed in a substituted section 46 in section 19.
51.The intention is that, having been told by the parent with care that she wishes to opt out, the Secretary of State will ask for her reasons. The parent will have four weeks to provide reasons. If at the end of this time, it is accepted that there are reasonable grounds for believing that pursuing child support would cause harm or undue distress to the parent with care or her children, no further action will be taken. If the Secretary of State decides that there is no good cause, he will impose a benefit penalty.
52.Section 3 provides that parents with care on Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (or other prescribed benefits) will be treated as applying for child support unless they choose to opt out. This section substitutes a new section 6 for section 6 of the 1991 Act, under which the parent with care is treated as applying for child support. Section 19 substitutes section 46 of the 1991 Act in relation to failure to comply with obligations imposed by section 6.
Part 1: Child Support. Commentary on Sections Schedule 1: Calculation of weekly amount of child support maintenance Section 3: Applications by persons claiming or receiving benefit