Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act 2023

Commentary on provisions of Act

Section 1: Collection of maintenance in England and Wales and Scotland: cases involving domestic abuse

17. Section 1 amends section 4 of the 1991 Act to make provision for the collection of maintenance in England and Wales and Scotland in cases involving domestic abuse.
18. Subsection (2) expands the circumstances in which arrangements may be made to collect maintenance. It inserts subsection (3A) into section 4 of the 1991 Act which gives the Secretary of State the power to place a child maintenance case onto the collect and pay service when the Person with Care or the Non-Resident Parent applies, and the Secretary of State is satisfied on the basis of evidence of a prescribed kind relating to relevant domestic abuse that it is appropriate for such arrangements to be made. It inserts subsection (3B) which defines relevant domestic abuse for the purposes of the subsection.
19. Subsection (3) amends section 4 (4) of the 1991 Act to expand the power to make regulations about the provision of information to cover applications on the basis of domestic abuse.

Section 2: Further provision about collection of maintenance in Scottish cases involving domestic abuse

20. Section 2 amends section 7 of the 1991 Act to make provision for the collection of maintenance in Scotland in cases involving domestic abuse.
21. Subsection (2) expands the circumstances in which arrangements may be made to collect maintenance. It inserts subsection (4A) into section 7 of the 1991 Act which gives the Secretary of State the power to place a child maintenance case onto the collect and pay service when the Person with Care or the Non-Resident Parent or the child concerned applies and the Secretary of State is satisfied on the basis of evidence of a prescribed kind relating to relevant domestic abuse that it is appropriate for such arrangements to be made. It inserts subsection (4B) which defines relevant domestic abuse for the purposes of the subsection.
22. Subsection (3) amends section 7(5) of the 1991 Act to expand the power to make regulations about the provision of information to cover applications on the basis of domestic abuse.
23. Section 3: Minor and consequential amendments
24. Section 3 sets out minor and consequential amendments relating to England and Wales and Scotland.
25. Subsection (2) amends section 29 of the 1991 Act.
26. Subsection (3) amends section 41D of the 1991 Act.
27. Subsection (4) amends section 49A of the 1991 Act.
28. Subsection (5) amends section 52 of the 1991 Act.

Section 4: Collection of maintenance in Northern Ireland: cases involving domestic abuse

29. Section 4 amends article 7 of the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 to make provision for the collection of maintenance in Northern Ireland in cases involving domestic abuse.
30. Subsection (2) inserts a new paragraph (3A) into Article 7 which expands the circumstances in which arrangements may be made to collect maintenance. It gives the Department the power to place a child maintenance case onto the collect and pay service when the Person with Care or the Non-Resident Parent applies and the Department is satisfied on the basis of evidence of a prescribed kind relating to relevant domestic abuse that it is appropriate for such arrangements to be made. It inserts a second new paragraph (3B) into Article 7 which defines relevant domestic abuse for the purposes of the first paragraph.
31. Subsection (2)(b) amends Article 7(4) which expands the power to make regulations about the provision of information to cover applications on the basis of domestic abuse.
32. Subsection (3) sets out minor and consequential amendments. It amends Article 29 and Article 48 of the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.

Section 5: Extent, commencement and short title

33. The provisions under this section are self-explanatory.