Challenge the Proposed CSA changes

[ShirleyKnot]

Could we talk about having some sort of campaign to bring awareness (and hopefully some action) for the many thousands of lone parents who are receiving pitifully small sums of money, or nothing at all, from the NRP?

I have been reading about the proposed changes here and I'm HORRIFIED!

I was on a thread recently here where many posters shared their sad tales about feckless NRP being asked to pay pennies per day for their children - and still not receiving even these pathetic amounts.

It seems that the CSA is a fairly toothless beast.

On a personal level, I have recently claimed for my two children (14 and 11) after nearly 10 years of no financial (or any other!) support.

My X refused to answer any of the CSA letters requesting salary information. He is self employed and therefore impossible for the CSA to get access to his income (although they do ask the Inland Revenue for previous accounts - in my X's case he hasn't submitted returns). Eventually an order was placed on him for £40.00 / week. Should the Inland Revenue not now be investigating why he hasn't paid any tax in the last few years? Surely this should be automatic?

He has not paid. I contacted the CSA today to ask what was happening with my case and was informed that they can't start court proceedings until the arrears mount up to £500.00 or 13 weeks worth of non payment.

The point of this is that, I'm used to it! I scrape by on my wages and we're fine - but what if we weren't?

What if I needed that £40.00 to feed our children?

I'm hoping that others will come onto this thread with ideas of what form this campaign should take - and also to maybe confirm the vague feeling I have that lone parents are going to be asked to contribute towards the CSA's work via their maintenance payments. (I may have this wrong)

Let's try and change this shall we? Or at least make a stand?

I am horrified that they won't chase it up for so long, that is so awful.

And yes, IMO your situation should trigger a tax investigation for your ex.

Apparantly the CSA has the power to take driving licenses away from non payers, and also to seize goods. Non payers can also go to prison.

I'd be very interested to know the stats on how many non payers have actually had these sanctions imposed.

Definately agree that the current system is an absolute joke, and noticed that Ed Miliband declined to comment on my suggested solution in today's live web chat.
I came across something once that if you petition to get something discussed in Parliament and if enough people agree then they have to discuss it...have looked since and can't find it....perhaps if anyone knows how to do this we could attempt to get something moving!

e-petitions I think Firefly?

(I did try and push him towards answering your question BTW - I was in my xmas namechange of Felicity on that thread earlier - have changed back for this one!

You need 100,000 signatures to get a debate in Parliament, I think that would be very achievable on this issue.

Yes, I will support a campaign. I received a letter today from the CSA to say that I'll be receiving £6/week instead of £5.

BIG SODDING DEAL!!!

Count me in, let me know what I can do.

ok guys I have just set up an e petition which is going to have to be checked but I will let you know on this thread when it has gone through and post the link so that anyone who wishes to sign can do!! Thanks Shirleyknot!!

That's great Firefly2.

I've started a thread in Chat about this, so perhaps you could post the link to the e petition on there too as there's so much traffic.

Me too.

Count me in! After years of non payment by ex, i have just been awarded the sum of £1.67 per week!

Lovely - thanks all who have posted so far.

Love the e-petition idea!

I've started a post in Lone Parents, I'm hoping we might get a little traffic that way.

SGM - I really believe that this is also a feminist issue (I'm aware that there are "deadbeat mums" in our society) as the vast majority of Non Payers are men - and that's why there is this...collusion.

I'd be grateful if you could talk to the lovely clever people over on the Feminist section for me (when it's relevant) or maybe I'll start a thread over there myself, actually, discussing the political aspects of non payment of CM.

Hidden - I hope you're not upset that I've used "your" thread? It was purely because I remembered it so clearly - all of us so let down.

Count me in - Not a LP but I know many that are, including my BF.
Will sign any petition.

i'll sign it too

Hidden - I will def post the link as soon as epetition has okayed it! They sent an email saying it could be up to 7days. I'm sure lots of people will sign!

I will start a thread tomorrow - I've had a couple of glasses of wine and written a blog and frothed with the #frothers and I'm pretty typed out tonight!

I know you're not the BORG (but you are all inspirational and have changed my way of thinking - dammit! I was reasonable happy before! )

I'll sign, they are useless. They called me today to discuss some information I asked for last week.....try the same week last year. The poor bloke didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

I'll sign.

90% of lone parents with residence, are women.

3/5 of them get no maintenance at all.

The majority.

And I would really like to know what the median maintenance payment is, because I bet it's peanuts.

There is a culture of allowing men to father children without taking any financial responsibility for them at all.

I think it's to try and discourage women from having children without men. I cannot otherwise see why government after government, refuses to make men responsible for their children. And not only that, this one is deliberately discouraging use of even the useless CSA, by making resident parents pay to use it - not the deadbeat dads - but the responsible mothers. It's a real disgrace and of course it's a gender issue, if 90% of parents with care and control were men, absent parents who didn't pay maintenance, would go to prison.

If I fed my son on the amount of food that his father has paid for, he'd be long dead by now and his father would be in jail for manslaughter

I'll happily sign - I only have another 4 weeks of getting £1.36 a week maintenance for DS1, and then it will go down to zero. Nada. Nil. Forever more.

And as for making parents PAY to use the CSA - if your Ex-P/H is on benefits, and is paying you £5 a week or less, what exactly would be the POINT in paying for the CSA? Especially as you would still be CHARGED even if the NRP didn't pay ??!!

hiddenhome - I TOTALLY agree. WTactualF is £1.36 a week going to buy? And in January, the sum total of fuck all will buy the sum total of fuck all. .

And HOW HOW HOW do these scrotes men get away with staying on JSA for ever more, when the Lone Parent MOTHERS get harassed to go back to work from the moment their youngest dc turns 5yo? Why are they harassing the mothers more than the fathers? Who (often) are the ones that fucked off anyway ??

HuntyCat - because it is a deliberate policy to punish women for being lone parents.

I really, honestly cannot see any other reason for it. There is no other explanation as to why they put so much energy in hassling people who have children to look after, to go to work, when they allow deadbeat dads to cruise for years without any pressure whatsoever. The morality of it is very difficult to understand unless you understand that it is a deliberate policy to try and persuade women to carry on living with unsatisfactory men.

There's unsatisfactory men, and then men like my ExH who cheat when their partner has a tiny baby. Who then refuse to leave the OW, and expect you to put up with them cheating. So women are in the wrong for leaving a cheating spouse now?!

It surely IS the only possible reason for charging to use the CSA, to punish women for being Lone Parents.