I welcome Part 8, which is long overdue. It will go a long way to improving the personal circumstances of those who are the beneficiaries of maintenance orders. If someone is in receipt of a maintenance order and it is not paid, there are direct consequences for the individual. More often than not, it has direct consequences on children. If someone fails to pay a maintenance order, the person relying on this to put food on the table and pay bills suffers in very real terms and very quickly. It is not something we can tolerate or that should be happening. When a maintenance payment does not come through, the individual will go to the local welfare officer but the local welfare officer is not in a position to help because a maintenance order is in place. We need further consideration of the situation.

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