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3rd January 2006 Non-paying parents could be tagged Parents who fail to pay child support money could be tagged is one idea being examined as part of reforms of the powers of the Child Support Agency. A review of the Child Support Agency is under way after Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was 'not properly suited' to its job. Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton said he would make a statement to Parliament soon setting out how he plans to improve the CSA's performance. Speaking to BBC News he said, "I want to get tough with those dads who are not paying for their kids." Mr Hutton's comments follow press reports suggesting his department was looking at imposing curfews backed by tagging to restrict the movements of absent parents. Mr Hutton said the CSA was already making more use of existing powers which have been in effect since April 2001. However, despite this only 27 have been jailed up to last September and 9 have had their driving licences confiscated. The Secretary was now examining whether new powers were needed to ensure there was a 'serious and credible threat for people who do not pay up that they will suffer an adverse consequence'. "We have got to enforce those responsibilities fairly and properly," he said. "But the fundamental here is that the father or mother who has moved away from the family does not in that action of moving away then sever all of their ties. "We have got to make sure that they meet their financial responsibility to their kids and if that means taking stronger powers then we are certainly prepared to look at that." Matt O'Connor, founder of the Fathers 4 Justice campaign group, said parents should meet both their emotional and financial responsibilities to their children. But he complained the tagging idea was part of a "gender apartheid" where mothers who failed to give reasonable access to children were treated with a "soft touch" while fathers were handled as "pariahs". Liberal Democrat work and pensions secretary David Laws dismissed the tagging idea as "a substitute for a real policy". "The CSA is fatally flawed and further attempts to patch it up are again likely to fail," he said. "What the CSA needs is a not more tinkering with its powers, designed to court dramatic headlines, but fundamental reform to address its weaknesses." Conservative shadow minister Philip Hammond said the idea was an attempt to distract attention from the CSA's real failures. Where to next?
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