Recent figures released by the Child Support Agency (CSA) show continuing improvement in its overall performance levels.

 

As well as targeting properties owned by parents who owe outstanding maintenance payments for possible possession and sale, the CSA is also making use of new enforcement powers to keep maintenance payments coming.

 

The new powers include Deduction Orders, where money is forcibly removed from bank accounts. More than 600 lump sum and regular payment orders have been imposed, so far raising in excess of £1 million. The Agency is also pursuing the estates of more than 600 deceased parents so their children will benefit from their legacies.

 

Enforcement powers are used only after other recovery methods have been tried and where it is believed the parent has the means to pay but is refusing to do so.

 

“The number of children benefiting from maintenance payments has increased by more than 50% since 2005 when performance began to improve. We are putting more and more of our efforts into re-establishing compliance when payments are missed and making increasing use of our wide range of enforcement powers," said Child Maintenance Commissioner Stephen Geraghty.