Loophole in DPB payments to be shut

The Government will close a loophole that enables DPB recipients to block the collection of child support payments.

Social Development and Employment Minister Steve Maharey revealed the planned change yesterday, after being questioned about assertions by National that more than 200 fathers on the Domestic Purposes Benefit refused to "name" the mother of their child - preventing the state collecting child support from them.

In fact Work and Income knows the identity of all the mothers, because it requires a birth certificate with the mother's name to be presented before the father can claim the benefit.

But Mr Maharey said there was differing advice on whether the department could demand a liable parent contribution from either non-custodial fathers and mothers without the signed agreement of the custodial parent on a benefit.

Some beneficiaries are penalised by $22 a week a child for failing to sign the liable parent form - but if the liable parent is working the state would recover significantly more money per child.

There are 223 men - down from 250 earlier this year - who have not signed the consent forms and about 15,000 women who have not signed.

In some cases the father's identity was not on the birth certificate and Winz could not identify them.

In other cases the women had valid reasons - such as violent or abusive histories with the father or simply a lack of knowledge about how the system worked - which prevented them from signing the forms.

But in other cases it was clear some custodial parent beneficiaries were simply blocking the Government from recovering taxpayers' money, which was "simply unacceptable", Mr Maharey said.

"The department has been getting conflicting legal advice about the ability of the state to do this. We've settled that debate now and decided we'll simply go ahead and do it because it's just unfair on taxpayers."

National welfare spokeswoman Judith Collins, who raised the issue of fathers not naming the mothers at her party's weekend conference, claimed victory for the law change.

The Government had taken the matter more seriously since leader Don Brash had announced National would introduce stiffer penalties for non-liable parents in his Orewa welfare speech, she said.

But Mr Maharey said he'd been examining the issue for some time and any Opposition credit should go to Act deputy leader Muriel Newman, who while she had the wrong answers, had kept raising the issue.

Act leader Rodney Hide meanwhile accused National of a second policy u-turn on the DPB yesterday, as the pre-election argy-bargy between the parties steps up.

Mr Maharey had earlier accused it of softening another DPB position.

Both Labour and Act believe National talked tough on welfare but is now backpedalling for fear of scaring off voters.

National has rejected both claims, but at least in some cases is using very careful language.

Mr Hide pointed out that in his Orewa speech Dr Brash had pledged sole parents on the DPB with a second toddler would have to enter part-time work or retraining as soon as their first child reached school age.

The speech said the parents would have to be available to work or train full-time once that first child was 14.

But Mr Hide said that in a statement yesterday Mrs Collins had backtracked and was now saying parents would not have to work until their youngest - not first - child was 14.