MPs target absent parent payments

3 July 2011 Last updated at 08:46 GMT A group of MPs have called for absent parents to make child maintenance payments taken directly from their salaries or bank accounts

Non-resident parents should make their child maintenance payments directly from their salaries or bank accounts, a committee of MPs has recommended.

They found the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission cost 50p for every ?1 it collected and had failed to collect ?3.8bn in payments due.

The Work and Pensions Committee called on the government to make the child support system more efficient.

The commission replaced the much-criticised Child Support Agency.

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We think if CMEC is going to be able to chase down runaway dads then they have to have all the powers necessary”

End Quote Anne Begg MP The committee found that many separated parents did not receive regular maintenance for their children and in some cases did not get payments at all.

Officials can take money directly from those who fall behind but the committee said direct payments from bank accounts or salaries should be required in all cases.

The government has said it wants to encourage separated parents to come to their own voluntary arrangements.

But its plans to charge a fee and call in officials to collect the payments of couples who cannot reach such an agreement were criticised by the MPs.

They also said the new agency still had operational weaknesses.

'Obligation'

Committee chairman Anne Begg said the current system could easily be improved.

She told the BBC: "There are many non-resident parents who already set up a mechanism, usually direct debit, to make sure their children get the money that they're entitled to.

"What we want to see is this widened so that everyone has an obligation to make sure there is some payment in process which is regular."

The Work and Pensions Committee is also calling on the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) to be given the power to remove the passports and driving licences of absent parents who persistently avoid making child maintenance payments.

"The date hasn't been set as to when those powers come into effect, and we just say they should make sure they do come into effect," said Ms Begg.

"Not that they should be used regularly, but we think if CMEC is going to be able to chase down runaway dads then they have to have all the powers necessary."

A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman acknowledged the agency was not working well enough for children and said the government would give its full response in due course.

Fiona Weir, the chief executive of single parent charity Gingerbread, said she supported the committee's recommendations.

"This report provides a timely and comprehensive critique of the government's proposals, and we expect ministers to heed its recommendations as they finalise future plans for child maintenance," she said.

Last month, Prime Minister David Cameron said absent fathers should be "stigmatised" by society in the same way as drink-drivers.

However, he was criticised by Gingerbread, which said government proposals to charge people in need of state help to obtain child maintenance payments would make life harder for single parents.

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Olympic ticket payments to be taken

16 May 2011 Last updated at 13:56 GMT Money for Olympic tickets has started to be withdrawn from some accounts The organisers of the London Olympics have started taking money from the accounts of people whose applications for tickets have been successful.

The process will continue until 24 June, when people will be notified of the tickets they have won.

A London 2012 spokesman said people should make sure they have sufficient funds available.

About 1.8 million people made more than 20 million applications for the 6.6 million tickets.

The ticket application process lasted for six weeks, which ended on 26 April.

This will mean that in some cases, money will be taken out of people's accounts before they know which tickets they have been able to buy. The Olympic organisers will be processing the ticket applications up to 10 June.

Random allocation

Refunds are not available but London 2012 will launch its official resale platform early next year, through which people can offer their tickets for resale at face value - although there is no guarantee they will be bought.

EBay, the internet auction site, has said it will not allow the resale of Olympic tickets.

Any tickets unsold by organisers are expected to be made available in further ballots, along with the possibility of additional tickets for higher-profile events being released as venues are tested and capacities finalised.

Stephen Hunt, an insolvency practitioner, has applied for ?36,000 of Olympic tickets

BBC Olympics correspondent Gordon Farquhar said that the remaining tickets would be sold according to a set structure.

He said: "Those who applied and got no tickets will be given first pick in a sale of what's left. Those who got some tickets but not all will get second preference in the remainder sale.

"Those who got them all will get third preference. Only those who applied in the first round of ticketing will get this second chance now, on a first-come first-served basis.

"Later in the year, a general sale of the remainder of the tickets will take place."

Card issues

Peter Kelly from Epsom, Surrey, may not have the chance to get Olympic tickets as his credit card company, Barclaycard, for security reasons, has replaced the card that he used to apply for tickets.

He has applied for two tickets for 18 events, totalling nearly ?4,000, and described watching the Olympics as "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" which he did not want to miss.

He said: "I today received a letter from Barclaycard saying they needed to replace my card. This is the card I used on my Olympic ticket application, so it needs to be working when the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games processes my application for the tickets, or my application will fail."

A spokeswoman for Visa said that anyone with card issues should contact LOCOG, make them aware of the situation, and provide details of their new Visa card.

Stephen Hunt, an insolvency practitioner from London, has bid for ?36,000 worth of tickets.

"I paused when I saw how much I was applying for, how much it would actually come to but if you think about it, it's like rolling or getting heads twenty times in a row," he said.

"The chances of me getting all my allocation are almost nil, in fact the chances of getting one ticket out of that lot is quite small.

"I sort of took a range of things I wanted so the 100 metres, the opening and closing ceremonies, then it's my daughter's birthday in the middle so something for her in the gymnastics.

"If I can get two or three, hopefully one for my daughter's birthday, I'd be happy."

Completely random

The opening and closing ceremonies were expected to be massively over-subscribed, as well as big athletics events, swimming nights, track cycling and some of the cheaper tickets.

Many people applied for several events, hoping to boost their chances of getting tickets.

Standard prices range from ?20 to ?2,012 - the top ticket for the opening ceremony - and oversubscribed events will be decided by a ballot.

Ticket allocation is completely random, so some unlucky applicants might end up without any, while others may be allocated all the tickets they applied for.

A further two million tickets for the Paralympic Games go on sale on 9 September.

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