The Child Support (Collection and Enforcement) Regulations 1992

Made: 17th August 1992

Laid before Parliament: 26th August 1992

Coming into force: 5th April 1993

The Secretary of State for Social Security, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 29(2) and (3), 31(8), 32(1) to (5) and (7) to (9), 34(1), 35(2), (7) and (8), 39(1), (3) and (4), 40(4), (8) and (11), 51, 52 and 54 of the Child Support Act 1991 and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

PART I — GENERAL

Citation, commencement and interpretation

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Child Support (Collection and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 and shall come into force on 5th April 1993.

• (2) In these Regulations—

• “ the Act ” means the Child Support Act 1991;

• “the 2000 Act ” means the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000;

• “electronic communication” has the same meaning as in section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000;

• “interest” means interest which has become payable under section 41 of the Act before its amendment by the 2000 Act ; and

• “voluntary payment” means a payment as defined in section 28J of the Act and Regulations made under that section.

• (2A) Except in relation to regulation 8(3)(a) and Schedule 2, in these Regulations “fee” means an assessment fee or a collection fee, which for these purposes have the same meaning as in the Child Support Fees Regulations 1992 prior to their revocation by the Child Support (Collection and Enforcement and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2000.

• (3) Where under any provision of the Act or of these Regulations—

• (a) any document or notice is given or sent to the Secretary of State, it shall be treated as having been given or sent on the day it is received by the Secretary of State; ...

• (b) any document or notice is given or sent to any other person, it shall, if sent by post to that person’s last known or notified address, be treated as having been given or sent on the day that it is posted; and

• (c) any document or notice is given or sent to any other person, it shall, if sent by electronic communication, be treated as having been given or sent at the end of the first day after the day it was sent.

• (4) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference—

• (a) to a numbered Part is to the Part of these Regulations bearing that number;

• (b) to a numbered regulation is to the regulation in these Regulations bearing that number;

• (c) in a regulation to a numbered or lettered paragraph or sub-paragraph is to the paragraph or sub-paragraph in that regulation bearing that number or letter;

• (d) in a paragraph to a lettered or numbered sub-paragraph is to the sub-paragraph in that paragraph bearing that letter or number;

• (e) to a numbered Schedule is to the Schedule to these Regulations bearing that number.

PART II — COLLECTION OF CHILD SUPPORT MAINTENANCE

Payment of child support maintenance

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• (1) Where a maintenance calculation has been made under the Act and the case is one to which section 29 of the Act applies, the Secretary of State may specify that payments of child support maintenance shall be made by the liable person—

• (a) to the person caring for the child or children in question or, where an application has been made under section 7 of the Act, to the child who made the application;

• (b) to, or through, the Secretary of State; or

• (c) to, or through, such other person as the Secretary of State may, from time to time, specify.

• (2) In paragraph (1) and in the rest of this Part, “liable person” means a person liable to make payments of child support maintenance.

Method of payment

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• (1) Payments of child support maintenance, penalty payments, interest and fees shall be made by the liable person by whichever of the following methods the Secretary of State specifies as being appropriate in the circumstances—

• (a) by standing order;

• (b) by any other method which requires one person to give his authority for payments to be made from an account of his to an account of another’s on specific dates during the period for which the authority is in force and without the need for any further authority from him;

• (c) by an arrangement whereby one person gives his authority for payments to be made from an account of his, or on his behalf, to another person or to an account of that other person;

• (d) by cheque or postal order;

• (e) in cash.

• (f) by debit card.

• (g) by credit card;

• (h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (i) by deduction from earnings order.

• (1A) In paragraph (1)—

• (a) “debit card” means a card, operating as a substitute for a cheque, that can be used to obtain cash or to make a payment at a point of sale whereby the card holder’s bank or building society account is debited without deferment of payment;

• (b) “credit card” means a card which is a credit-token within the meaning of section 14(1)(b) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974;

• (c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) The Secretary of State may direct a liable person to take all reasonable steps to open an account from which payments under the maintenance calculation may be made in accordance with the method of payment specified under paragraph (1).

• (3) Where the Secretary of State is considering specifying a deduction from earnings order by virtue of paragraph (1)(i), that method of payment is not to be used in any case where there is good reason not to use it.

• (4) For the purposes of paragraph (3) the matters which are to be taken into account in determining whether there is good reason not to use that method of payment are whether the making of a deduction from earnings order is likely to result in the disclosure of the parentage of a child and the impact of that disclosure on—

• (a) the liable person’s employment;

• (b) any relationship between the liable person and a third party.

• (5) For the purposes of paragraph (3) the circumstances in which good reason not to use that method of payment is to be regarded as existing are—

• (a) a member of the liable person’s or parent with care’s family is employed by the same relevant employer as the liable person;

• (b) that family member’s employment requires knowledge of the relevant employer’s functions in giving effect to the deduction from earnings order; and

• (c) as a consequence of these circumstances the liable person’s employment status or family relationships may be adversely affected by the use of a deduction from earnings order as a method of payment.

• (6) For the purposes of paragraph (3) the matters which are not to be taken into account in determining whether there is good reason not to use that method of payment are—

• (a) the liable person’s preference for a different method of payment;

• (b) the liable person’s preference for a relevant employer not to be informed about that parent’s maintenance liability;

• (c) that a third party would become aware of the liable person’s maintenance liability,

unless they are relevant to any matter falling within paragraph (4) or circumstance falling within paragraph (5).

• (7) Where the Secretary of State is considering specifying the method of payment set out in paragraph (1)(i) and decides that there is no good reason not to use it, that method is not to be specified until—

• (a) the time within which an appeal against that decision may ordinarily be brought (including any period during which a further appeal may ordinarily be brought) has ended; or

• (b) if an appeal is brought on the grounds set out in regulation 22(3A), the time at which proceedings on the appeal (including any proceedings on a further appeal) have been concluded.

• (8) Nothing in this regulation is to prevent the Secretary of State exercising his powers under section 31 of the Act to make a deduction from earnings order where the Secretary of State considers it is appropriate in the circumstances of the case, unless he has specified a deduction from earnings order as a method of payment by virtue of paragraph (1)(i).

• (9) In this regulation—

• “couple” means—two people who are married to, or civil partners of, each other and are members of the same household; ortwo people who are not married to, or civil partners of, each other but are living together as if they were a married couple or civil partners;

• “family” means partner, parent, parent-in-law, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, step-parent, step-son, step-daughter, brother, sister, grand-parent, grand-child, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, or if any of the preceding persons is one member of a couple, the other member of that couple;

• “partner” means where a person is a member of a couple the other member of that couple; and

• “relevant employer” means the employer of a liable person in respect of whom the order under section 31 of the Act would be made but for paragraph (3).

Interval of payment

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• (1) The Secretary of State may, for the purposes of determining the frequency and amount of the payments of child support maintenance required to be made by a liable person—

• (a) determine the total amount payable for the reference period on the assumption that the weekly rate of child support maintenance will not change over that period; and

• (b) require that amount to be paid by equal instalments over that period at intervals determined by the Secretary of State.

• (2) The reference period in relation to the maintenance calculation is, subject to paragraph (3), the period of 52 weeks mentioned in section 29(3A) of the Act beginning with—

• (a) the initial effective date (where it is the first such period in relation to the maintenance calculation); or

• (b) the review date.

• (3) In this regulation “initial effective date” and “review date” have the meanings given by regulations 12 and 19 of the Child Support Maintenance Calculation Regulations 2012 respectively.

Transmission of payments

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• (1) Payments of child support maintenance made through the Secretary of State or other specified person shall be transmitted to the person entitled to receive them–

• (a) by transfer of credit to an account nominated by the person entitled to receive the payments; or

• (b) by means other than by transfer of credit as determined by the Secretary of State, where it appears to the Secretary of State to be necessary to do so in the circumstances of the particular case.

• (2) Subject to paragraph (3), the Secretary of State shall specify the interval by reference to which the payments referred to in paragraph (1) are to be transmitted to the person entitled to receive them.

• (3) Except where the Secretary of State is satisfied in the circumstances of the case that it would cause undue hardship to either the person liable to make the payments or the person entitled to receive them, the interval referred to in paragraph (2) shall not differ from the interval referred to in regulation 4.

• (4) Subject to paragraph (3) and regulation 4(2), the interval referred to in paragraph (2) and that referred to in regulation 4 may be varied from time to time by the Secretary of State.

Representations about payment arrangements

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The Secretary of State shall, insofar as is reasonably practicable, provide the liable person and the person entitled to receive the payments of child support maintenance with an opportunity to make representations with regard to the matters referred to in regulations 2 to 5 and the Secretary of State shall have regard to those representations in exercising his powers under those regulations.

Notice to liable person as to requirements about payment

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• (1) In the case of child support maintenance, the Secretary of State shall send the liable person a notice stating—

• (a) the amount of child support maintenance payable;

• (b) to whom it is to be paid;

• (c) the method of payment; and

• (d) the day and interval by reference to which payments are to be made.

• (e) the amount of any payment of child support maintenance which is overdue and which remains outstanding.

• (1A) In the case of penalty payments, interest or fees, the Secretary of State shall send the liable person a notice stating—

• (a) the amount of child support maintenance payable;

• (b) the amount of arrears;

• (c) the amount of the penalty payment, interest or fees to be paid, as the case may be;

• (d) the method of payment;

• (e) the day by which payment is to be made; and

• (f) information as to the provisions of sections 16 and 20 of the Act.

• (2) A notice under paragraph (1) shall be sent to the liable person as soon as is reasonably practicable after—

• (a) the making of a maintenance calculation, and

• (b) after any change in the requirements referred to in any previous such notice.

• (3) A notice under paragraph (1A) shall be sent to the liable person as soon as reasonably practicable after the decision to require a payment of the penalty payment, interest or fees has been made.

PART III — DEDUCTION FROM EARNINGS ORDERS

Interpretation of this Part

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• (1) For the purposes of this Part—

• “defective” means in relation to a deduction from earnings order that it does not comply with the requirements of regulations 9 to 11 and such failure to comply has made it impracticable for the employer to comply with his obligations under the Act and these Regulations;

• “disposable income” means the amount determined under regulation 12(1)(a) of the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 1992 ;

• “earnings” shall be construed in accordance with paragraphs (3) and (4);

• “exempt income” means the amount determined under regulation 9 of the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 1992;

• “interim maintenance assessment” means a Category A, Category B, Category C or Category D interim maintenance assessment within the meaning of regulation 8(3) of the Child Support (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) Regulations 1992;

• “net earnings” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph (5);

• “normal deduction rate” means the rate specified in a deduction from earnings order (expressed as a sum of money per month and the equivalent of that sum for a 1, 2 and 4 week period) at which deductions are to be made from the liable person’s net earnings;

• “pay-day” in relation to a liable person means an occasion on which earnings are paid to him or the day on which such earnings would normally fall to be paid;

• “protected earnings proportion” means the proportion referred to in regulation 11(2).

• “prescribed minimum amount” means the minimum amount prescribed in regulation 13 of the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 1992;

• “protected earnings rate” means the level of earnings specified in a deduction from earnings order (expressed as a sum of money per week, month or other period) below which deductions of child support maintenance shall not be made for the purposes of this Part;

• “protected income level” means the level of protected income determined in accordance with paragraphs (1) to (5) of regulation 11 of the Child Support (Maintenance Assessments and Special Cases) Regulations 1992.

• (2) For the purposes of this Part the relationship of employer and employee shall be treated as subsisting between two persons if one of them, as a principal and not as a servant or agent, pays to the other any sum defined as earnings under paragraph (1) and “employment”, “employer” and “employee” shall be construed accordingly.

• (3) Subject to paragraph (4), “earnings” are any sums payable to a person—

• (a) by way of wages or salary (including any fees, bonus, commission, overtime pay or other emoluments payable in addition to wages or salary or payable under a contract of service);

• (b) by way of pension (including an annuity in respect of past service, whether or not rendered to the person paying the annuity, and including periodical payments by way of compensation for the loss, abolition or relinquishment, or diminution in the emoluments, of any office or employment);

• (c) by way of statutory sick pay.

• (4) “Earnings” shall not include—

• (a) sums payable by any public department of the Government of Northern Ireland or of a territory outside the United Kingdom;

• (b) pay or allowances payable to the liable person as a member of Her Majesty’s forces other than pay or allowances payable by his employer to him as a special member of a reserve force (within the meaning of the Reserve Forces Act 1996);

• (c) pension, allowances or benefit payable under any enactment relating to social security;

• (d) pension or allowances payable in respect of disablement or disability;

• (e) guaranteed minimum pension within the meaning of the Social Security Pensions Act 1975 .

• (f) working tax credit payable under section 10 of the Tax Credits Act 2002.

• (5) “Net earnings” means the residue of earnings after deduction of—

• (a) income tax;

• (b) primary class I contributions under Part I of the Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 ;

• (c) amounts deductible by way of contributions to a superannuation scheme which provides for the payment of annuities or lump sums—

• (i) to the employee on his retirement at a specified age or on becoming incapacitated at some earlier age; or

• (ii) on his death or otherwise, to his personal representative, widow, surviving civil partner, relatives or dependants.

Deduction from earnings orders

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A deduction from earnings order shall specify—

• (a) the name and address of the liable person;

• (b) the name of the employer at whom it is directed;