The weekly rate of child support maintenance is the basic rate unless a reduced rate, a flat rate or the nil rate applies.

The basic rate is the following percentage of the non-resident parent's net weekly income—

• 15 per cent. where he has one qualifying child;

• 20 per cent. where he has two qualifying children;

• 25 per cent. where he has three or more qualifying children.

If the non-resident parent also has one or more relevant other children, the appropriate percentage referred to in sub-paragraph (1) is to be applied instead to his net weekly income less—

• 15 per cent. where he has one relevant other child;

• 20 per cent. where he has two relevant other children;

• 25 per cent. where he has three or more relevant other children.

The reduced rate payable shall be prescribed in, or determined in accordance with, regulations.

The regulations may not prescribe, or result in, a rate of less than £5.

The benefits, pensions and allowances which may be prescribed for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b) include those paid to the non-resident parent under the law of a place outside the United Kingdom.

If the non-resident parent has more than one qualifying child and in relation to them there is more than one person with care, the amount of child support maintenance payable is (subject to paragraph 7 or 8) to be determined by apportioning the rate between the persons with care.

The rate of maintenance liability is to be divided by the number of qualifying children, and shared among the persons with care according to the number of qualifying children in relation to whom each is a person with care.

This paragraph applies only if the rate of child support maintenance payable is the basic rate or a reduced rate.

If the care of a qualifying child is shared between the non-resident parent and the person with care, so that the non-resident parent from time to time has care of the child overnight, the amount of child support maintenance which he would otherwise have been liable to pay the person with care, as calculated in accordance with the preceding paragraphs, is to be decreased in accordance with this paragraph.

First, there is to be a decrease according to the number of such nights which the Department determines there to have been, or expects there to be, or both during a prescribed twelve-month period.

The amount of that decrease for one child is set out in the following Table—

If the person with care is caring for more than one qualifying child of the non-resident parent, the applicable decrease is the sum of the appropriate fractions in the Table divided by the number of such qualifying children.

If the applicable fraction is one-half in relation to any qualifying child in the care of the person with care, the total amount payable to the person with care is then to be further decreased by £7 for each such child.

If the application of the preceding provisions of this paragraph would decrease the weekly amount of child support maintenance (or the aggregate of all such amounts) payable by the non-resident parent to the person with care (or all of them) to less than £5, he is instead liable to pay child support maintenance at the rate of £5 a week, apportioned (if appropriate) in accordance with paragraph 6.

If the care of a qualifying child is shared as mentioned in paragraph 7(2) for at least 52 nights during a prescribed twelve-month period, the amount of child support maintenance payable by the non-resident parent to the person with care of that child is nil.

For the purposes of this Schedule, net weekly income shall be determined in such manner as is provided for by regulations.

The regulations may, in particular, provide for the Department to estimate any income or make an assumption as to any fact where, in the Department’s view, the information at its disposal is unreliable, insufficient or relates to an atypical period in the life of the non-resident parent.

Any amount of net weekly income (calculated as above) over £2,000 is to be ignored for the purposes of this Schedule.

References in this Part to “qualifying children” are to those qualifying children with respect to whom the maintenance calculation falls to be made.

In this Part, a person “receives” a benefit, pension or allowance for any week if it is paid or due to be paid to him in respect of that week.

For the purposes of this paragraph, two people of the same sex are to be regarded as living together as if they were civil partners if, but only if, they would be regarded as living together as husband and wife were they instead two people of the opposite sex.