Child Support Enforcement Bill

Overview

The Child Support Enforcement Bill was introduced in the Northern Ireland Assembly on 17 June 2024. The Bill and its Explanatory and Financial Memorandum are available to download here.

The Bill makes provision for NI that corresponds to the provisions of the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023, which was passed by the Westminster Parliament and is due to come into effect in England, Scotland and Wales.

In general, NI’s child maintenance policy and legislation operate in line with the corresponding child maintenance provision in Great Britain, in accordance with section 87 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. In effect, there is a single child maintenance system and regulatory regime across the UK.

The purpose of the Bill is to allow the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to introduce new administrative liability orders, replacing the current court-based liability order process. This change aims to substantially speed up the time it takes for the CMS to initiate its strongest enforcement powers against parents who fail to make their child maintenance payments.

Currently, where the CMS's administrative enforcement functions are inappropriate or have proven ineffective in collecting arrears that non-resident parents owe, the service must apply to the Magistrates' Court to obtain a liability order. That liability order then allows the CMS to take forward enforcement powers through the NI Courts and Tribunals Service. This court-based process can take an average of 22 weeks to be completed.

Once the Bill is enacted, the CMS will be able to make an administrative liability order without requiring application to the Magistrates' Court. It is envisaged that the new administrative liability orders will substantially shorten the liability order process from an average of 22 weeks to around six weeks.

The Bill consists of two clauses and one schedule. Clause 1 of the Bill deals with: making and varying liability orders; appeals against liability orders; and outlines the amendments to previous legislation in the schedule. Clause 1 also defines the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 and the Child Maintenance Act (Northern Ireland) 2008.

Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the provisions and the short title of the Bill.

The schedule contains detailed amendments that the Bill will make to the Child Support (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 and the Child Maintenance Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 to introduce the new system.