The Child Support (Management of Payments and Arrears) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Child Support (Management of Payments and Arrears) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 (“the Management of Payments and Arrears Regulations”) and the Child Support Information Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 (“the Information Regulations”).

Regulation 2 inserts Parts 4A and 4B into the Management of Payments and Arrears Regulations to make provision in relation to the power to accept part payment of arrears, in full and final satisfaction of any arrears of child support maintenance under Article 38D of the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (“the Order”) and to extinguish liability in respect of arrears of child support maintenance under Article 38E(1) of that Order.

In Part 4A—

• regulation 13A provides that where arrears of child support maintenance for which a person is liable comprise different amounts owed to different persons they are to be treated as separate amounts of arrears for the purpose of exercising the power under Article 38D(1) of the Order;

• regulation 13B provides that the Department for Social Development (“the Department”) may not exercise the power in Article 38D(1) of the Order without the written consent of the person with care unless certain conditions apply;

• regulation 13C provides that where it is proposed to accept an offer of a part payment of arrears, the Department must set out the terms of the agreement in writing and send it to the non-resident parent and, where applicable, to the person with care, and that the non-resident parent must have agreed to the terms in writing, and, where applicable, the person with care must have given written consent to the Department; and

• regulation 13D provides that—

  • while a non-resident parent is complying with the agreement, the Department must not take steps to recover the outstanding arrears to which the agreement relates and that once full payment has been made in accordance with the terms of the agreement then all remaining liability in respect of the arrears of child support maintenance to which the agreement relates is extinguished, and

  • where the agreement has not been adhered to, the Department may recover all outstanding arrears, however, the Department may enter into a new agreement with the non-resident parent in respect of any arrears to which the previous agreement relates provided the new agreement complies with the requirements set out in regulation 13C.

In Part 4B—

• regulation 13E provides that where arrears of child support maintenance for which a person is liable comprise different amounts owed to different persons they are to be treated as separate amounts of arrears for the purpose of exercising the power under Article 38E(1) of the Order;

• regulation 13F prescribes the circumstances in which the Department may exercise the power in Article 38E(1) of the Order;

• regulation 13G sets out the requirement for the Department to notify the person with care and the non-resident parent before making a decision and provides that if no representations are received within 30 days of the notice being received by them, the Department may make the decision to extinguish the arrears;

• regulation 13H provides that where the Department receives representations in response to a notice given under regulation 13G, it must take account of those representations in making a decision under Article 38E(1) of the Order; and

• regulation 13I provides that the Department must send written notification of a decision to write off arrears under Article 38E(1) of the Order to the non-resident parent and the person with care.

Regulation 3 amends the Information Regulations to permit the Department to disclose information relating to one party to a maintenance calculation held for the purposes of the Order to another party to that calculation where, in the opinion of the Department, such information is essential to inform the party to whom it would be given as to why it was decided not to exercise power under either Article 38D(1) or 38E(1) of the Order.

Articles 38D and 38E of the Order, some of the enabling provisions under which these Regulations are made, are inserted respectively by sections 23 and 24 of the Child Maintenance Act (Northern Ireland) 2008. Those sections were brought into operation, for the purposes only of making regulations, on 3rd December 2012 by virtue of the Child Maintenance (2008 Act) (Commencement No. 9) Order (Northern Ireland) 2012 (S.R. 2012 No. 423 (C. 43)).