Glasgow Parents Owe £37m In Child Support

Absent parents in Glasgow owe their children £37.5m in maintenance payments. New figures published today show there are nearly 13,000 families scraping by, waiting for ex-partners to pay for their children’s upbringing.

The Child Support Agency (CSA) is launching a get-tough collection campaign warning the parents to come forward before investigators came knocking at their door.

As part of the crackdown, Lord McKenzie, the Child Maintenance Minister, has issued an ultimatum to the 12,800 parents in Glasgow who refuse to take responsibility for their children.

Launching the campaign, he said: “In Glasgow and surrounding areas, irresponsible parents owe an average of £2930 each in outstanding maintenance – money their children deserve and have a right to.

“Our enforcement team is more determined than ever to use its powers to track down these parents and force them to support their children.

“Every day in the UK, the Child Support Agency passes 36 cases to the courts, while 200 more begin to have money deducted straight from their pay packets.”

He added: “Today’s campaign launch sends a strong and simple message to those who refuse to pay child maintenance: Your time is running out. Act now or we will’.”

The CSA said it is already closing the net on those who refuse to pay, and in the past year alone, 176 non-paying parents in Glasgow and surrounding areas have had their cases put through the courts.

The campaign will raise awareness of the agency’s increased powers via adverts on radio, billboards and in local papers, as well as posters in washrooms, pubs and gyms.

The advertising focuses on the CSA’s enforcement powers and highlights the frequency with which the agency uses these powers.

The campaign was initially piloted in Newcastle and Sheffield before being extended to Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham, where it ran for five weeks.

The campaign will also be launched today in Liverpool, and was unveiled in Cardiff on September 21. It will run until the end of October.

LINKS
www.csa.gov.uk