13 December 2006
HANSON WELCOMES CHILD SUPPORT PROPOSALS
Social Development Minister David Hanson MP has welcomed the Child Support White Paper published at Westminster today.
Its proposals follow Sir David Henshaw's report published in July 2006 which concluded that "There is a need for fundamental change in the way that child support is organised."
The Minister said: "I believe that we can deliver a new system of child support. Parents, whether they live together or apart, have a moral and legal responsibility to maintain and do the best they can for their children.
"The proposals in the White Paper offer real benefits for children, for parents and for staff. They will help us, through time, to lift many more children out of poverty."
The Minister pointed out that child support policy and legislation is a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Assembly.
He said: "I would expect that the Assembly, when it returns, will want to replicate the policy proposals under the existing parity arrangements because of the benefits they offer to the people of Northern Ireland. Decisions on delivery mechanisms will also be for the Assembly to take."
Mr Hanson reassured staff at the Child Support Agency in Belfast that there are no short-term effects on their jobs - it would be business as usual for the Agency dealing with its existing customers.
He said: "I know that staff were concerned for their jobs when the Henshaw Report was published in July and I can understand that this announcement may rekindle those concerns. There is no short-term risk to these jobs, whether staff deal with Northern Ireland customers or with customers of the Great Britain Agency.
"I would appeal to staff to bear with us through this period of change. They have a valuable role to play in providing child support services, now and for the foreseeable future."
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Northern Ireland Child Support Agency's main business is to arrange or collect child support maintenance on behalf of children whose parents live apart. The Agency shares that objective with the Child Support Agency in Great Britain.
The Northern Ireland Agency delivers services to:
- the people of Northern Ireland, with a population of some 1.7 million; and
- the people of Eastern England, with a population of some 8-10 million, under a contract with the Great Britain Agency.
In delivering its services to the people of Northern Ireland the Agency has around 490 staff; the majority of them working in Belfast, with a small number of staff working in four area offices located in Social Security Offices in Derry, Antrim, Newry and Omagh.
The Agency also delivers child support services to Great Britain through a Service Level Agreement. There are 1,299 Northern Ireland Civil Servants based in Belfast providing services to an area of Eastern England.
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