Deadbeat dads could be tagged

LONDON - Tougher penalties against absent fathers who refuse to make child maintenance payments will be included in a shake-up of Britain's Child Support Agency next month.

New sanctions being considered by ministers include imposing curfews backed by electronic tagging to restrict the movements of fathers. Ministers will also order much greater use of existing but little-used powers such as confiscating driving licences.

Government figures show that only nine absent parents have been banned from driving and only 27 sent to jail since these penalties for non-payment were introduced in 2001.

Tagging is seen as a more realistic option than prison, since parents could remain in work and keep up their maintenance payments.

John Hutton, the Work and Pensions Secretary, is determined to ensure the agency improves its record on enforcing maintenance awards. He wants a culture change at the organisation, where the conciliatory approach to sensitive family problems has made staff wary of using draconian penalties. He has told officials that harsh penalties are of little value if parents know they are unlikely to be used.

The CSA has failed to collect an estimated 1.7 billion ($4.3 billion) in unpaid maintenance and has a backlog of 350,000 cases. It has awarded compensation in 35,000 mishandled cases in the past four years.

- INDEPENDENT