Campaign to get Sheffield parents to pay what they owe
A new advertising campaign was launched today in Sheffield to show the 17,000 parents in the area who do not take financial responsibility for their children, the consequences of failing to pay child maintenance
The Child Support Agency (CSA) is cracking down hard on parents who refuse to pay, and in the past year over 300 non-paying parents in Sheffield have had their cases put through the courts
Sheffield parents owe their children more than £50 million in maintenance payments.
Child Maintenance Minister, Lord McKenzie said:
It is unacceptable that in Sheffield, irresponsible parents owe an average of almost £3,000 each in outstanding maintenance - money that their children deserve and have a right to
Our enforcement team is more determined than ever to use its powers to track down these parents and force them to support their children. Every day the Child Support Agency passes 37 cases to bailiffs and 36 to the courts, while 200 more begin to have money deducted straight from their pay packets.
Today the CSA is sending out a strong and simple message to child maintenance evaders in Sheffield: Your time is running out. Act now or we will.
The four-week campaign will raise awareness of the Agency's increased powers via advertising on radio, billboards, and in local newspapers, as well as posters in wash rooms, pubs and gyms, and via direct mail. Sheffield is only the second city in the country to be targeted in this way.
