The Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill which sets up the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (C–MEC) will replace the Child Support Agency.

The emphasis in the new legislation is to encourage and support parents to make their own maintenance arrangements. 

There are three major differences between  the old system and the new. 

Firstly the way child maintenance will be assessed will be changed from net to gross income.  The stepped contributions (currently 10%, 15% and 20%) for one, two or more children will be changed to 9%, 12% and 19% of gross earnings.  For absent parents whose gross income is between £800.00 and £3,000.00 per week the contributions will be 9%, 12% and 15%.  The formula provides for a reduction in child maintenance if the non-resident parent has overnight contact for one or more nights each week.  This is known as the shared care allowance. 

Secondly, enforcement will be by Draconian means such as the removal of a person’s passport, curfews and bank account “freezing” Orders.  The tougher enforcement measures are meant to be vital in ensuring that, in the future, a recalcitrant non-resident parent will be unable to avoid his/her financial responsibilities.  It is envisaged that interim Orders will be made, without any notice being given to the non-resident parent.  The rationale is to prevent the parent from moving his or her money to avoid payment but it is of some concern that there is no right of appeal against such Orders. 

Thirdly, and most importantly, benefit claimants will not be forced to use C-MEC as is presently the case with the CSA.  Such parents will be able to consent to a Court Order if they are able to agree child maintenance.  It is more likely such Consent Orders will honoured than assessments imposed by outside bodies.  From 2010/2011 the Government will significantly increase the amount of maintenance that a parent with care on benefits can retain, before their benefits are affected. 

It is likely to be several years before C-MEC is fully operational.  It is proposed that between 2011 and 2013 the existing CSA case load will be transferred to the Enforcement Commission.  Little detail has been given as to how this transition will be managed.  The transfer of existing cases will be one of the most substantial challenges facing the Commission and the scale of this task should not be under estimated.  There is a real doubt that the current computer system, with all its inherent problems, will be sufficiently robust to deal with the recalculation of the child maintenance liabilities of the existing 1.4 million case load.