Scotsman – News in brief – 25/07/06 The Child Support Agency, which has frequently
been under siege, is to be replaced by a smaller body, and the government said yesterday that fathers who fail to pay child support should be "named and shamed" as part revolutionary plans to overhaul Britain's child maintenance system. John Hutton went on to say that reforms to the system could also include a law whereby fathers would be compelled to register as parents on the birth of a child.
The government has spent more than ¢500 million trying to reform the CSA but still 70p of every pound collected from absent parents by the CSA, is consumed by bureaucracy. There is a backlog of around 300,000 cases with an outstanding £3 billion as yet owed to children. Mr Hutton told MPs that the arrears will largely be collected by private debt-collecting firms, while the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) establishes a replacement to the CSA. The new smaller body to replace the CSA will deal with fewer cases, as the emphasis of child support will be shifted by the government back on to parents, encouraging them to reach their own informal financial agreements.
Mr Hutton said," A new system should promote greater personal responsibility and we will throw the book at those people who are holding up two fingers to society and to their families in not discharging their financial responsibilities." Sanctions in use at present to confiscate the driving licences of non- payers have not proved effective, but the Dept of Work and Pensions will take new powers to enable them to also confiscate passports. Earlier this year Mr Hutton revealed that the worst cases could be subjected to curfews and fitted with electronic tag. Those who repeatedly fail to make maintenance payments could be identified via the media and possibly the DWP's website. This practice is common in parts of the United States, and is believed to encourage fathers to take greater responsibility.
At present it is not required for a father's name to be recorded on a birth certificate, sometimes complicating mothers' attempts to get support and so a measure being considered would be to force fathers to register their name after the birth of a child. While Mr Hutton thought his plans would give parents a "fresh start with a new organisation," opposition parties were not impressed.
Tory spokesman, Philip Hammond, said the government had delivered "yet another delay for further reports and more consultation".
Conndoleezza Rice yesterday stopped in Beirut on her way to Israel but Hezbollah yesterday dismissed her proposals for a
ceasefire in Lebanon.
United Nations humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, accused Hezbollah of causing the deaths of hundreds during cross-border violence with Israel by "cowardly blending" among Lebanese civilians. Earlier Mr Egeland, appealed for £81 million in humanitarian aid, describing this as "the hour of greatest need for the Lebanese people".
Ms Rice met with Hezbollah's de facto negotiator, the Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri and made the cease-fire proposal. She later met the Lebanese prime
minister, Fouad Siniora, "Thank you for your courage and steadfastness," she told Mr Siniora, who has repeatedly pleaded for an immediate ceasefire. Mr Siniora told Ms Rice that Israel's bombardment was taking his country "backwards 50 years" and also called for a "swift ceasefire".
However a Hezbollah cabinet member, saying she came to force Lebanese into "submission" or else face more fighting, denounced Ms Rice's proposals. Tarrad Hamadeh, the labour minister claimed: "What Rice carried was merely conditions to cover a new round of fighting and a new round of war."
An official close to Mr Berri said his talks with Ms Rice had failed to reach an agreement because Ms Rice "insisted on one full package to end the fighting". The official said that the package included a ceasefire; simulwith the ent of the Lebanese army and an international force in south Lebanon and the removal of Hezbollah weapons from a buffer zone extending 25 miles from the Israeli border - roughly the line of the Litani River.
Prior to meeting with Mr Berri, Ms Rice said she was "deeply concerned about the Lebanese people and what they are enduring".
Hilary Benn, the UK's International Development Secretary, last night announced an additional £2.2 million to bring the total UK aid package to £5 million, with more promised "if necessary", in response to Mr Egeland's UN appeal for further humanitarian aid. The US is contributing £16 million to the fund.
Amir Peretz, Israel's defence minister said that the army's mission now was to create the conditions for a diplomatic settlement "that will bring quiet for many years and that does not emanate from weakness but rather from recognition by the entire world that the state of Israel is strong".
Arriving in Israel last night, Ms Rice told reporters: "Every peace has to be based on enduring principles and not on temporary solutions." She was to meet the foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, last night and today with the Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert.
Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said he hoped to give details of a ceasefire plan in the next few days, adding that violence "has to stop on both sides and it is not going to stop on both sides unless a plan is in place that makes it stop". He added: "What is occurring in Lebanon is a catastrophe."