WEIR CALLS FOR MAJOR CHANGES TO CSA 

In his submission to Sir David Henshaw, who has been charged by the government to “redesign” the Child Support Agency, Angus MP Mike Weir has called for major changes to tackle the huge problems encountered by both parents with care and absent parents in dealing with the Agency. 

Mr Weir says that the redesign must, at the very least, tackle three major areas of concern – the unfairness of different systems within the agency, the delay in dealing with assessments and differences in the way that arrears are tackled. 

“The  thing that most undermines public confidence in the Agency is the fact that there are different systems being run at the same time meaning that two people with identical circumstances can be paying very different amounts. This is totally unfair and leads to frustration and anger, especially since the “new” system is now three years old. If the Agency is to gain public trust then it must be seen to be fair and deal with everyone on the same basis.” 

Mr Weir also called for the creation of a quick interim assessment procedure.  

“At present payments start accumulating from the date of the application by the parent with care, but it can often be months before a formal assessment is made which means that the other parent starts off with sometimes substantial arrears. This could be avoided with an interim assessment, as existed under the previous court based system, which could be adjusted once the full assessment is made.” 

“Once an assessment is in place, however, there must also be a fair and consistent system of ensuring payments are made. At present many parents face a confusing and totally inadequate system that is far from consistent in its application.”