Part IDecisions and Appeals
Chapter IIIOther Decisions and Appeals
Child support
I1I242Child support: appeals to appeal tribunals
For sections 20 to 21 of the Child Support Act there shall be substituted the following section—
20Appeals to appeal tribunals
1
Where an application for a maintenance assessment is refused, the person who made that application shall have a right of appeal to an appeal tribunal against the refusal.
2
Where a maintenance assessment is in force—
a
the absent parent or person with care with respect to whom it was made; or
b
where the application for the assessment was made under section 7, either of them or the child concerned,
shall have a right of appeal to an appeal tribunal against the amount of the assessment or the date from which the assessment takes effect.
3
Where a maintenance assessment is cancelled, or an application for the cancellation of a maintenance assessment is refused—
a
the absent parent or person with care with respect to whom the maintenance assessment in question was, or remains, in force; or
b
where the application for that assessment was made under section 7, either of them or the child concerned,
shall have a right of appeal to an appeal tribunal against the cancellation or refusal.
4
A person with a right of appeal under this section shall be given such notice of that right and, in the case of a right conferred by subsection (1) or (3), such notice of the decision as may be prescribed.
5
Regulations may make—
a
provision as to the manner in which, and the time within which, appeals are to be brought; and
b
such provision with respect to proceedings before appeal tribunals as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
6
The regulations may in particular make any provision of a kind mentioned in Schedule 5 to the Social Security Act 1998.
7
In deciding an appeal under this section, an appeal tribunal—
a
need not consider any issue that is not raised by the appeal; and
b
shall not take into account any circumstances not obtaining at the time when the decision or assessment appealed against was made.