£15m owed by absent parents

Absent parents are withholding more than £15million from children in Rochdale, shocking new figures reveal.

As of December, 2010, a staggering £15.69million towards the upkeep of their offspring was outstanding.

In the last year, £3.980million was collected from absent parents in Rochdale.

Despite the huge amounts, the Government says compliance rates across the North-West have improved.

Child maintenance commissioner Stephen Geraghty said: “Most parents caring for children in the North-West can now reasonably expect to receive what they are entitled to through the agency. Once regular payments are flowing, parents should consider whether a collaborative, family-based arrangement might work better for them.

“It could help to keep both parents involved in their children’s lives, benefiting them all in the long-term.”

The figures show there are 3,520 children benefiting from payments in Rochdale.

Nationally, £3.8 billion is outstanding in unpaid arrears which has accumulated over the entire 17-year lifetime of the Child Support Agency.

The agency was effectively axed in 2008 when it was rolled into a new body — the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.

Now the Government is consulting on changes to how payments are dealt with. The aim is to encourage parents to come to their own arrangements rather than relying on the state to set child maintenance payments.

Under the proposals, parents unable to agree could be charged about £100.

Parents will get free advice from voluntary and charitable bodies before deciding whether to reach an independent settlement or opt to use the statutory service.

Families minister Maria Miller said: “The new system will not just have support for people to make their own arrangements but the statutory system will be there to help people who can’t come to their own arrangements.

“There will be a charge in place for them to use that, but for the poorest people in society, the up-front charge will be £20, so we are not talking about an enormous amount of money.

“This will still remain a heavily subsidised state maintenance system.”