Say NO to tax on child support

[Jmum85]

Some of you will already know that the Gvnt is currently consulting on its proposal to charge parents for the use of the Child Support Agency (CSA). This means that it will deduct up to 12% from the monthly child maintenance payment that you currently receive if you continue to use their service. This means an average of £24.00 will be deducted directly from you child(ren)s maintenance each and every month.

You can read the Gvnts consultation paper and respond directly at
www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2011/strengthe ning-families.shtml

You can say NO to a tax on child maintenance by signing an online petition at

www.ipetitions.com/petition/taxingkids/
Please sign the petition and encourage others to sign too!

You really need to read the Gvnt paper but in a nutshell...

Currently one parent will pay £200 to CSA and the other parent will get £200 for child.

The proposal is one parent will pay £240 to CSA and the other parent will get £176 for child.

Both parents are charged! the first (up to 40%, the second up to 12%)

For most people if you do not use the new sytem and accept the charge you will not get any money.

You should also know you will have to pay £100 to apply to use the new system, then they take the monthly charge, then, if you need to enforce a payment they will charge you again!

This is not just income tax!! This is not fair! It is too much money taken away from people who have little to begin with!

Please sign the petition!

I've just done mine

it seems it gets worse, what more can I say.

This is from the Gingerbread website:

"Gingerbread and Resolution - backed by The Children?s Society, Child Poverty Action Group and Citizens Advice - have today contacted all MPs to oppose child support changes proposed in the Welfare Reform Bill which has its second reading on Wednesday (March 9th) (1). The Bill?s measures come on top of government proposals to charge parents for using the CSA?s successor (Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission - CMEC) and risk leaving tens of thousands of parents caring for children without the money they need, the organisations warn (2).

Under clauses 128 and 129 of the Bill, separated parents caring for children would have to show they have tried to get their former partner to pay voluntarily before their case will be taken on by CMEC. And a parent with care whose case is taken on would only be able to get child maintenance collected (rather than simply calculated) by the state service if the ex-partner agrees, or if it can be shown that the former partner is unlikely to pay without CMEC stepping in.

www.gingerbread.org.uk/news/98/Welfare-Reform-Bill-proposals-risk-jeopardising-vital-child-maintenance

www.churchofengland.org/our-views/the-church-in-parliament/briefing-bills/welfare-reform-bill-2011

I haven't done my letter yet. I won't forget though.

Has anyone else looked at the DWP consultation document, 37 bleedin' pages. Sat down at the weekend and went through it adding comments so I can put it all together in my letters to the DWP / MP.

They use the word 'empowering' all the time. Yes, there's nothing like taking money away from lone parents to empower them .

meglet,
I read the shortened version [i think it was shorter?] of the consultation doc and replied. In the end it only took me half an hour to write them an email. Then I used that email as the basis for my letters to the MP's, so it didn't take that long in the end.

It just seems to me, that they are pretty determined to go ahead with this and are clearly sneaking in changes already, even before the date in April. It is truely outrageous!

Yes, they use all those buzz words like empower, but it isn't the parents they are empowering, let alone the children involved .

Has anyone had a reply yet?

I haven't sent mine yet. Had some work stuff that I wanted to clear before I started the DWP / MP letters. It's now top of my 'to do' list.

From my point of view (because luckily my ex has always paid the exact amount suggested on the csa website, but privately) I see another problem.

As well as doing a dis-service to RPs who will loose out on money, it will also mean that Non RPs wont have any back up. My DP currently pays way over the odds to his ex. He is comforted by the fact that if it ever became un bearable he could go to the CSA and they could enforce the correct amount so he could pay it to his ex without her being able to claim it's not enough - because he'd have an official body backing him up.

This new arrangement will deny non RPs the support they need as well as RPs.

The thing I hate the most is how it's dressed up as a way to help people learn to get along better and have private agreements which will benefit the children... bleughhhh we're not thick.

I got an email from gingerbread about this today.

It says that "The Children?s Society, Child Poverty Action Group, Citizen?s Advice, the Mothers Union and Resolution have now all signed up to our campaign and there are more to come".

"We?ve had lots of media interest including an interview with Maria Miller on Woman?s Hour (on BBC iplayer, about 24.5 minutes in), a great article in The Guardian and plenty of local newspaper and radio coverage."

www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/17/child-support-agency-budget-airline

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00z58b4/Womans_Hour_07_03_2011/

Just listened to maria Miller on the radio. Just how ill informed she is and how wrong they have got it.

Just listened to Maria Miller - it's bullshit, pure and simple. She should hang her head in shame for spouting the party line.

Over 800 people have signed the petition to date!

please add your signature, I want to reach 1000!

www.ipetitions.com/petition/taxingkids

I've started my letters to Maria Miller and the DWP.

The more of the DWP document I read the more I got.

Notice how MM hasn't had the balls to come onto MN for a web chat about this and bottled it with a mid-morning (ie: when parents are at work) chat on NM instead.

Hi

I've got about 980 signatures on the petition against these charges. I plan to hand deliver it to No 10 tomorrow afternoon and I'll email a copy to Maria Miller too. If you haven't yet signed it or if you know a few more people who will want to sign it please do so today!

P.S the Gvnt consultation ends tomorrow so if you have yet to respond to the Green paper visit

www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2011/strengthening-families.shtml

yes I was v annoyed when I realised I had missed the chance to web chat with the minister. I read the q and a and she completely avoided acknwoledging the financial impact the proposals would have on families.