Administration of Justice Act 1970

16 Compliance with order by employer

(1) Where an attachment of earnings order has been made, the employer shall, if he has been served with the order, comply with it; but he shall be under no liability for noncompliance before seven days have elapsed since the service.

(2) Where a person is served with an attachment of earnings order directed to him and he has not the debtor in his employment, or the debtor subsequently ceases to be in his employment, he shall (in either case), within ten days from the date of service or, as the case may be, the cesser, give notice of that fact to the court.

(3) Part II of Schedule 5 to this Act shall have effect with respect to the priority to be accorded as between two or more attachment of earnings orders directed to a person in respect of the same debtor.

(4) On any occasion when the employer makes, in compliance with the order, a deduction from the debtor's earnings—

(a) he shall be entitled to deduct, in addition, one shilling or such other sum as may be prescribed by order made by the Lord Chancellor towards his clerical and administrative costs; and

(b) he shall give to the debtor a statement in writing of the total amount of the deduction.

As from the appointed day for the purposes of the [1969 c. 19.] Decimal Currency Act 1969, paragraph (a) of this subsection shall have effect with the substitution for " one shilling " of " five new pence ".

(5) An order of the Lord Chancellor under subsection (4) (a) above—

(a) may prescribe different sums in relation to different classes of cases;

(b) may be varied or revoked by a subsequent order made under that paragraph ; and

(c) shall be made by statutory instrument subject to annulment by resolution of either House of Parliament.