4 out of 5 non-resident parents pay no child support - Liz Lynne

12.00.00am GMT Tue 17th Jan 2006

Liz Lynne, Lib Dem MEP for the West Midlands, today called for an end to the Child Support Agency, as new figures reveal that 4 out of 5 non-resident parents paid no child support in the three months to October 2005.

Liberal Democrat analysis of CSA statistics found that of the 1,449,000 cases with the CSA, only 297,000 non-resident parents had made one or more payments towards the upkeep of their children in the three months to end September 2005.

Liz Lynne has been calling for an end to the agency for over a decade, since she was Lib Dem Social Security Spokesperson in the House of Commons. Commenting on today's figures, she said:

"It's another set of statistics, the same old story. The CSA lost the public's trust long ago. Now the government has run out of excuses."

"The time for sticking plaster solutions has passed. The CSA's functions must be moved to the Revenue so that it better serves those who are trying to pay their maintenance and cracks down on those who aren't."

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

1.The House of Commons today held a debate secured by the Liberal Democrats on the following motion:

"This House agrees with the Prime Minister that the Child Support Agency has lost the confidence of the public; that its basic structural problems remain; and that it is not properly suited to carry out its task."

2.The figures on the numbers of non-resident parents who have not paid any maintenance in the last quarter come from analysis of tables 1 and 7 in the latest CSA stats:

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/child_support/csa_sep05_tables.xls