Member

Even today, a parent would normally move to a Collect and Pay arrangement because payments are not being made. We need to have confidence that the Government will deliver the money that is expected. In the latest survey published by the department, only 46% of parents said that they had received the amount of money that the Child Maintenance Service told them that they were going to pay them. Noble Lords can imagine my concern, and the Select Committee will look into this further, but it is my desire to return on Report. There may well be a letter read out by the clerk expressing their concerns about the scope, but I hope I have said enough today to show that I genuinely believe that putting into place legislation to commence it would contribute to the well-being of children directly. Hopefully, we can start to get some of that £700 million back so that those children can have a better start in life, not just through the wonderful hubs and similar but by their parents being able to cover all, or many, of their needs. With that, I beg to move.