Sponsored by
Scarborough's single parents have big unpaid bills - COMMENT ON THIS STORY
SEPARATED mums and dads in the Scarborough region owe more than £7.5 million in missed child maintenance payments, new figures have revealed.
In a study carried out by single parent charity Gingerbread, the arrears in the Scarborough and Whitby constituency are among the top 15 per cent the UK - easily the highest in North Yorkshire.
The national "league table of shame" shows the total amount that is owed to single parents through the Child Support Agency since the controversial body was established in 1993.
Grimsby tops the list, with non-resident parents owing more than 11 million. In the Vale of York, which was replaced by the Thirsk and Malton constituency, just 3.5million is owed, while in Rydale, just over 4 million has not been paid.
The second-highest owing area in North Yorkshire behind Scarborough was York, where 6.7 million is outstanding.
Gingerbread policy advisor Janet Allbeson said: "Many separated parents in the region are struggling to pay for things like school shoes and trips for their children because of the money owed for maintenance.
"Single parents want the best start in life for their child and what both parents have to consider is both the emotional and financial well-being of their children.
"But too many parents are not putting hands in their pockets and paying for the upkeep of their children. The message we want to get across is that this may be old money but it's still money that could make a big difference to a child's life."
Fiona Weir, the charity's chief executive added: "Child maintenance is vital for children in separated families.
"We know from single parents that this is much-needed money which pays for items such as children's clothes, school meals, trips and activities and childcare."
A spokesperson Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, which is responsible for the child maintenance system in the UK, said that only around half of the outstanding money was owed directly to single parents, with the other half owed to the government.
They added: "While the Commission shares Gingerbread's view that responsibility for unpaid maintenance rests ultimately with non-resident parents, it should be noted that CSA arrears have actually been falling recently.
"Regrettably some parents go to great lengths to avoid their financial responsibility to their children, requiring costly and time-consuming enforcement action to be taken against them.
"The Commission is using tough enforcement measures, including deducting money directly from bank accounts, seizing properties through Order for Sale action and preventing or reversing the transfer of assets from a non-resident parent with outstanding arrears to another person in order to evade child maintenance liabilities.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Scarborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North east
