Children will be affected by inefficient child maintenance service

Gingerbread, the single parent charity, has commented on the publication of the National Audit Office (NAO) report into the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.

According to Gingerbread, the report shows that:

• Charging parents to use the future statutory maintenance scheme has become a central part of the Commission’s plans to balance its books and meet its savings targets. Due to rising future costs, the NAO estimates that, without fee income, the new scheme will cost more to run in the next ten years than the two existing schemes.
• The Commission is expecting to raise £71 million from parental fees by 2014/15. But the NAO’s view is that this is a “high risk” approach – given that the Commission’s own survey evidence reveals that parents have “a low willingness to pay fees.”  The NAO concludes the Commission should be looking elsewhere to make savings by cutting the costs of systems and procedures.
• The Commission’s savings targets depend on implementation of the future scheme without delay; yet, according to the NAO, “achieving the Commission’s plans without further cost increases or delays appears unlikely.”

Commenting on the report, Gingerbread’s Chief Executive Fiona Weir said:

“We must not lose sight of the fundamental fact that many children who really need child maintenance will go without if the statutory maintenance service does not do its job properly. Government plans to charge parents to use the service run the risk of children losing out on child maintenance, as their parents try to avoid charges but are not able to agree and sustain private arrangements.

“We urgently call on the government to suspend all plans to charge parents until the Commission is proven to be delivering an efficient, value-for-money service”.