The Child Support (Maintenance Calculation Procedure) Regulations 2000

Made: 18th January 2001

Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1(5)

Now, therefore, the Secretary of State for Social Security, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by sections 3(3), 5(3), 12(4) and (5)(b), 46(2), (5), (8) and (10), 51, 52(4), 54 and 55 of, and paragraphs 11 and 14 of Schedule 1 to, the Child Support Act 1991[^f00002] 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 (Maintenance Calculation Procedure) Regulations 2000.

• (2) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

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

• “date of notification to the non-resident parent” means the date on which the non-resident parent is first given notice of a maintenance application;

• “effective application” means as provided for in regulation 3;

• “date of receipt” means the date on which the information or document is actually received;

• “effective date” means the date on which a maintenance calculation takes effect for the purposes of the Act;

• “notice of a maintenance application” means notice by the Secretary of State under regulation 5(1) that an application for a maintenance calculation has been made... in relation to which the non-resident parent is named as a parent of the child to whom the application relates;

• “Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases Regulations” means the Child Support (Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases) Regulations 2000[^f00003];

• “maintenance period” has the same meaning as in section 17(4A) of the Act[^f00004];

• “relevant person” means—a person with care;a non-resident parent;a parent who is treated as a non-resident parent under regulation 8 of the Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases Regulations;where the application for a maintenance calculation is made by a child under section 7 of the Act, that child, in respect of whom a maintenance calculation has been applied for, ... or is or has been in force.

• (3) The provisions in Schedule 1 shall have effect to supplement the meaning of “child” in section 55 of the Act.

• (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 Schedule is to the Schedule to these Regulations bearing that number;

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

• (d) in a regulation or Schedule to a numbered paragraph is to the paragraph in that regulation or Schedule bearing that number; and

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

• (5) These Regulations shall come into force in relation to a particular case on the day on which the amendments to sections 5, ... 12, ... 51 and 54 of the Act made by the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 come into force in relation to that type of case.

Documents

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Except where otherwise stated, where—

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

• (b) any document is given or sent to any other person, that document 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.

PART II — APPLICATIONS FOR A MAINTENANCE CALCULATION

Applications under section 4 or 7 of the Act

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• (1) A person who applies for a maintenance calculation under section 4 or 7 of the Act need not normally do so in writing, but if the Secretary of State directs that the application be made in writing, the application shall be made either by completing and returning, in accordance with the Secretary of State’s instructions, a form provided for that purpose, or in such other written form as the Secretary of State may accept as sufficient in the circumstances of any particular case.

• (2) An application for a maintenance calculation is effective if it complies with paragraph (1) and, subject to paragraph (4), is made on the date it is received.

• (3) Where an application for a maintenance calculation is not effective the Secretary of State may request the person making the application to provide such additional information or evidence as the Secretary of State may specify and, where the application was made on a form, the Secretary of State may request that the information or evidence be provided on a fresh form.

• (4) Where the additional information or evidence requested is received by the Secretary of State within 14 days of the date of his request, or at a later date in circumstances where the Secretary of State is satisfied that the delay was unavoidable, he shall treat the application as made on the date on which the earlier or earliest application would have been treated as made had it been effective.

• (5) Where the Secretary of State receives the additional information or evidence requested by him more than 14 days from the date of the request and in circumstances where he is not satisfied that the delay was unavoidable, the Secretary of State shall treat the application as made on the date of receipt of the information or evidence.

• (6) Subject to paragraph (7), a person who has made an effective application may amend or withdraw the application at any time before a maintenance calculation is made and such amendment or withdrawal need not be in writing unless, in any particular case, the Secretary of State requires it to be.

• (7) No amendment made under paragraph (6) shall relate to any change of circumstances arising after the effective date of a maintenance calculation resulting from an effective application.

Multiple applications

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• (1) The provisions of Schedule 2 shall apply in cases where there is more than one application for a maintenance calculation.

• (2) The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Schedule 2 relating to the treatment of two or more applications as a single application shall apply where no request is received for the Secretary of State to cease acting in relation to all but one of the applications.

• (3) Where, under the provisions of paragraph 1, 2 or 3 of Schedule 2, two or more applications are to be treated as a single application, that application shall be treated as an application for a maintenance calculation to be made with respect to all of the qualifying children mentioned in the applications, and the effective date of that maintenance calculation shall be determined by reference to the earlier or earliest application.

Notice of an application for a maintenance calculation

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• (1) Where an effective application has been made under section 4 or 7 of the Act, ... as the case may be, the Secretary of State shall as soon as is reasonably practicable notify, orally or in writing, the non-resident parent and any other relevant persons (other than the person who has made... the application) of that application and request such information as he may require to make the maintenance calculation in such form and manner as he may specify in the particular case.

• (2) Where the person to whom notice is being given under paragraph (1) is a non-resident parent, that notice shall specify the effective date of the maintenance calculation if one is to be made, and the ability to make a default maintenance decision.

• (3) Subject to paragraph (4), a person who has provided information under paragraph (1) may amend the information he has provided at any time before a maintenance calculation is made and such information need not be in writing unless, in any particular case, the Secretary of State requires it to be.

• (4) No amendment under paragraph (3) shall relate to any change of circumstances arising after the effective date of any maintenance calculation made in response to the application in relation to which the information was requested.

Death of a qualifying child

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• (1) Where the Secretary of State is informed of the death of a qualifying child with respect to whom an application for a maintenance calculation has been made ... he shall—

• (a) proceed with the application as if it had not been made with respect to that child if he has not yet made a maintenance calculation;

• (b) treat any maintenance calculation already made by him as not having been made if the relevant persons have not been notified of it and proceed with the application as if it had not been made with respect to that child.

• (2) Where all of the qualifying children with respect to whom an application for a maintenance calculation has been made have died, and either the calculation has not been made or the relevant persons have not been notified of it, the Secretary of State shall treat the application as not having been made.

PART III — DEFAULT MAINTENANCE DECISIONS

Default rate

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• (1) Where the Secretary of State makes a default maintenance decision under section 12(1) of the Act (insufficient information to make a maintenance calculation or to make a decision under section 16 or 17 of the Act) the default rate is as set out in paragraph (2).

• (2) The default rate for the purposes of section 12(5)(b) of the Act shall be—

• £30 where there is one qualifying child of the non-resident parent;

• £40 where there are two qualifying children of the non-resident parent;

• £50 where there are three or more qualifying children of the non-resident parent,

• apportioned, where the non-resident parent has more than one qualifying child and in relation to them there is more than one person with care, as provided in paragraph 6(2) of Part I of Schedule 1 to the Act.

• (3) Subject to paragraph (4), where any apportionment made under this regulation results in a fraction of a penny that fraction shall be treated as a penny if it is either one half or exceeds one half, otherwise it shall be disregarded.

• (4) If, in making the apportionment required by this regulation, the effect of the application of paragraph (3) would be such that the aggregate amount of child support maintenance payable by a non-resident parent would be different from the aggregate amount payable before any apportionment, the Secretary of State shall adjust that apportionment so as to eliminate that difference; and that adjustment shall be varied from time to time so as to secure that, taking one week with another and so far as is practicable, each person with care receives the amount which she would have received if no adjustment had been made under this paragraph.

PART IV — REDUCED BENEFIT DECISIONS

Interpretation of Part IV

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Period within which reasons are to be given

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Circumstances in which a reduced benefit decision shall not be given

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Amount of and period of reduction of relevant benefit under a reduced benefit decision

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Modification of reduction under a reduced benefit decision to preserve minimum entitlement to relevant benefit

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Suspension of a reduced benefit decision when relevant benefit ceases to be payable

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Suspension of a reduced benefit decision when relevant benefit ceases to be payable

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Suspension of a reduced benefit decision ... (income support)

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Termination of a reduced benefit decision

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Reduced benefit decisions where there is an additional qualifying child

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Suspension and termination of a reduced benefit decision where the sole qualifying child ceases to be a child or where the parent concerned ceases to be a person with care

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Notice of termination of a reduced benefit decision

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Rounding provisions

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PART V — MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Persons who are not persons with care

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• (1) For the purposes of the Act the following categories of person shall not be persons with care—

• (a) a local authority;

• (b) a person with whom a child who is looked after by a local authority is placed by that authority under the provisions of the Children Act 1989[^f00019], except where that person is a parent of such a child and the local authority allow the child to live with that parent under section 23(5) of that Act;

• (c) in Scotland, a family or relative with whom a child is placed by a local authority under the provisions of section 26 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995[^f00020] or who is providing continuing care by virtue of arrangements made under section 26A of that Act.

• (2) In paragraph (1) above—

• “family” means family other than such family defined in section 93(1) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995;

• “local authority” means, in relation to England, a county council, a district council, a London borough council, the Common Council of the City of London or the Council of the Isles of Scilly and, in relation to Wales, a county council or a county borough council, and, in relation to Scotland, a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994[^f00021]; and

• “a child who is looked after by a local authority” has the same meaning as in section 22 of the Children Act 1989 or section 17(6) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 as the case may be.

Authorisation of representative

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• (1) A person may authorise a representative, whether or not legally qualified, to receive notices and other documents on his behalf and to act on his behalf in relation to the making of applications and the supply of information under any provisions of the Act or these Regulations.

• (2) Where a person has authorised a representative for the purposes of paragraph (1) who is not legally qualified, he shall confirm that authorisation in writing to the Secretary of State.

PART VI — NOTIFICATIONS FOLLOWING CERTAIN DECISIONS

Notification of a maintenance calculation

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• (1) A notification of a maintenance calculation made under section 11 or 12(2) of the Act (interim maintenance decision) shall set out, in relation to the maintenance calculation in question—

• (a) the effective date of the maintenance calculation;

• (b) where relevant, the non-resident parent’s net weekly income;

• (c) the number of qualifying children;

• (d) the number of relevant other children;

• (e) the weekly rate;

• (f) the amounts calculated in accordance with Part I of Schedule 1 to the Act and, where there has been agreement to a variation or a variation has otherwise been taken into account, the Child Support (Variations) Regulations 2000[^f00022];

• (g) where the weekly rate is adjusted by apportionment or shared care, or both, the amount calculated in accordance with paragraph 6, 7 or 8, as the case may be, of Part I of Schedule 1 to the Act; and

• (h) where the amount of child support maintenance which the non-resident parent is liable to pay is decreased in accordance with regulation 9 or 11 of the Maintenance Calculations and Special Cases Regulations (care provided in part by local authority and non-resident parent liable to pay maintenance under a maintenance order), the adjustment calculated in accordance with that regulation.

• (2) A notification of a maintenance calculation made under section 12(1) of the Act (default maintenance decision) shall set out the effective date of the maintenance calculation, the default rate, the number of qualifying children on which the rate is based, whether any apportionment has been applied under regulation 7 and shall state the nature of the information required to enable a decision under section 11 of the Act to be made by way of section 16 of the Act.

• (3) Except where a person gives written permission to the Secretary of State that the information in relation to him, mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) below, may be conveyed to other persons, any document given or sent under the provisions of paragraph (1) or (2) shall not contain—

• (a) the address of any person other than the recipient of the document in question (other than the address of the office of the officer concerned who is exercising functions of the Secretary of State under the Act) or any other information the use of which could reasonably be expected to lead to any such person being located;

• (b) any other information the use of which could reasonably be expected to lead to any person, other than a qualifying child or a relevant person, being identified.

• (4) Where a decision as to a maintenance calculation is made under section 11 or 12 of the Act, a notification under paragraph (1) or (2) shall include information as to the provisions of sections 16, 17 and 20 of the Act.

Notification when an applicant under section 7 of the Act ceases to be a child

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Where a maintenance calculation has been made in response to an application by a child under section 7 of the Act and that child ceases to be a child for the purposes of the Act, the Secretary of State shall immediately notify, so far as that is reasonably practicable—

• (a) the other qualifying children who have attained the age of 12 years and the non-resident parent with respect to whom that maintenance calculation was made; and

• (b) the person with care.

PART VII — EFFECTIVE DATES OF MAINTENANCE CALCULATIONS

Effective dates of maintenance calculations

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