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From The Times
November 24, 2005

CSA to focus on absent fathers

By Alexandra Frean
THE Child Support Agency has been ordered to get tough on absent fathers by John Hutton, the Work and Pensions Secretary.

A review of the CSA, which the Prime Minister said last week was “not properly suited” to its task, is being carried out. Yesterday Mr Hutton declined to rule out the scrapping of the agency, insisting that ministers would look at “all the options” when the report was published at the end of this year or early next year.

He told the Work and Pensions Select Committee that the chief executive of the CSA, Stephen Geraghty, was under instructions to put a much higher emphasis on making sure that absent parents handed over money.

“There are a lot of fathers out there who don’t want to pay maintenance and they will do anything to avoid paying it. We shouldn’t pussyfoot around this,” Mr Hutton said.

It has been suggested in unconfirmed reports that Mr Hutton, who replaced David Blunkett,this month, is considering plans under which those who do not pay child maintenance could be tagged, made to surrender their passports or forced to do community work.

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