Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill

My Lords, I welcome the noble Lord’s amendment and his interest in the movement of cases to the new arrangements. It is an important subject which we have discussed before. We know from experience that this will be one of the most significant challenges for the commission. In the light of this, any decisions regarding the process should be carefully considered. The amendment would require the Secretary of State to make regulations in relation to the transfer of cases within one year of the Act coming into force. I acknowledge the intent behind this, but primary legislation is not the right place to make such provision. Perhaps it would be helpful if I outlined some of the relevant factors that are likely to have a bearing on the commission’s recommendations to Ministers on the detail and timing of the transfer arrangements. Over the next few months, the commission’s board will be effecting a number of changes that will allow it to formulate its approach. By the end of this year we will have repealed Section 6 of the Child Support Act 1991; the information and support service will be dealing with customers and their inquiries across the country; and the disregard will have been doubled to £20 a week and will have been extended to all cases in the statutory scheme. The commission will therefore need to study all of this closely and evaluate the effect on its customers, including the effect of its own communications strategy and that of Jobcentre Plus. All of this will inform its decision-making process for formulating recommendations for the next stages in implementing our reforms. Furthermore, we anticipate that the commission will consult stakeholder groups in developing processes for the movement of cases and will ensure that parents are supported by a comprehensive communication strategy in order for them to make the decision that is best for them. It would follow automatically—and if it does not, I am happy to make a commitment that it will—that consultation with stakeholder groups would obviously involve engagement with the Opposition Benches as this thinking unfolds. Your Lordships will be aware that it was agreed on Report that considerations for the movement will be subject to affirmative regulations in the first instance, where the proper ministerial and parliamentary scrutiny can take place. A lesson from the previous reforms of the child maintenance system is that this preparation is absolutely essential if we are to succeed. I do not believe it to be in the best interest of parents, children and taxpayers to limit the drawing up of this process to a period defined in advance by statute. I hope that, on that basis, the noble Lord will withdraw his amendment. The noble Lord referred to transfers between the current system and the new system. I stress that there is no wholesale transfer. We have always maintained that we will not make transfers to the current system—not the new system—until the systems are properly in place to effect that. Of course, there are transfers in some cases, for example where there are new children or new relationships, but there is no wholesale transfer. I reiterate that the transition process—the transfer—was considered in the White Paper, is due to start in 2010-11 and will be introduced over a three-year period. That is still the timeframe which is envisaged but it is for the commission to work up the detail of that process.