Child Maintenance
Other Provisions
49.The Act introduces powers to enable the disclosure of certain qualifying information about some non-resident parents to credit reference agencies, to be used by such agencies for the purpose of furnishing information relevant to the financial standing of individuals (determining their credit rating).
50.The Act will enable relevant information relating to certain family proceedings to be disclosed to the Commission without such a disclosure being a contempt of court.
51.A new power will be inserted into the 1991 Act, to make it an offence for a non-resident parent not to notify the Commission of a change in their address.
52.A piloting power will be introduced to enable new policies to be tested, and changes to the definition of “child” to align it with the Child Benefit Act 2005.
53.The Act introduces information gateways between the Commission and the Secretary of State, the Northern Ireland Department and HMRC.
54.The Act will prevent any further use of the social security provisions (which are now generally redundant) which provide that a person is liable to maintain their children, and that the Secretary of State may seek an order to recover amounts paid in income support where this has been paid as a result of failure to do so.
55.The Act amends the 1991 Act to clarify that Registered Maintenance Agreements in Scotland, made on or after 3 March 2003 will be treated for the purposes of child support in the same way as consent orders made on or after that date.
