Stepping Out Blog

Janet Allbeson of the Gingerbread Charity has claimed that recent changes to child maintenance arrangement could force some parents to give up on receiving financial support.

Child maintenance is financial support that helps towards a child’s living costs when the parents have separated.

Many parents are worried that by putting up cost barriers to using the new Child Maintenance Service, some single parents who really need the new CMS to ensure that their children get money from the other parent may simply just give up all together.

This new method will see a £20 application charge for the parent making the claim. If there is a breakdown in payments then a 20% fee is placed on the paying parent but the receiving parent will also be charged a 4% fee from the payment that would have otherwise gone to the child.

Around 30% of parents have already tried some type of private arrangement which has broken down, almost 60% have very conflicted or almost non-existent relations with the other parent and over half have experienced violent abuse from the other parent.

All the evidence shows that the vast majority of parents who turn to the statutory maintenance service are doing so from necessity and not from choice. This method is often used as a last ditch effort after communications have broken down between the two parents involved and thus the government has to step in and take control of the situation.

If some are pressured into settling for unstable or inadequate arrangements then this will mean that the children will be the ones to lose out in the long run.

Parents Should Sort Things Out for Themselves

Work and pensions minister Steve Webb has claimed that this new method encourages parents to try and reach an arrangement between themselves without involving any great bureaucracy, which would be good thing for everyone, including the taxpayer.

“The goal here is to get more child maintenance for more children and to make it the default that even though parents may have separated they can sort things out for themselves rather than using a government agency.” He said.

Mr. Webb thinks that the £20 one off payment is good value for money, arguing that the government will do all of the calculations on behalf of the parent and therefore have a much more efficient system in ensuring that the correct amount of money goes to the children.

This new method will allow the government to gain immediate access to parents wages via the HMRC’s computers, allowing maintenance to be assessed within a number of days ensuring that the people who need the system will get a much better one and the children will end up better off than before.

He also defended the penalty charges that have been put in place, saying that the paying parent will not have to pay the 20% additional charge as long as they are making regular payments to the receiving parent, and the 4% charge for the receiving parent will only be applicable if the government is successful in getting a regular flow of maintenance. And if payments are then made to the receiving parent all of these charges would drop away.

All in all this seems like a very nice opportunity for separated parents to sort things out in an amicable and respectful way, however if this is not possible and there is no other way to handle the situation, parents can always fall back on this plan.

You can watch BBC’s coverage of this claim right here.

What is Fragile X Syndrome?

Fragile X syndrome is an inherited condition which causes a range of developmental problems including learning disabilities and cognitive impairment. Usually, males are more severely affected by this disorder than females, with the syndrome occurring in 1 in every 4000 males compared to 1 in every 8000 females.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common cause of sex-linked, general learning disability. It is what is known as a repeat expansion disorder.

In DNA coding it is common to see repeated sequences of the nucleotides that make up the genetic strand. In Fragile X syndrome there is an expansion of the number of repeat sequences in the fragile X mental retardation (FMR1) gene. The nucleotides involved are cytosine (C) and guanine (G) and the repeated sequence is CGG.

In the most common form of the condition, the CGG sequence is repeated more than 200 times. The metabolic result of this is to block production of a substance called fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP)

Symptoms of Fragile X Syndrome

Typical symptoms of Fragile X syndrome include learning difficulties (IQ of 20-70), delayed milestones, high forehead, large testicles, facial asymmetry, large jaw, long ears and short temper.

Other symptoms may include attention deficit, repetitive actions, clumsiness, avoidance of gaze, obsessiveness, anxiety and sleep disturbance.

Specific speech disorders may include echolalia and the inability to complete a sentence due to repetition of words at the end of a phrase.

The diagnosis is usually made before the child is one year old, but can be delayed if the symptoms are subtle.

How to Manage Fragile X Syndrome

The current management of Fragile X syndrome will most likely involve professional and attentive care, including special needs education, behavioural therapy and speech therapy

There is currently research in focusing on gene therapy, protein replacement, nutritional intervention, regulation of neurotransmission and transcriptional regulation. Various antipsychotics, inhibitors and anticonvulsants have all been found to be helpful in treating various aspects of abnormal behaviour found in the patients.

It is also important to mention that the genetic counselling and support of the parents and other family members should not be forgotten. Sufficient counselling and support should also be provided to all of those who are affected by the syndrome and not just the patients themselves.
Here at Stepping Out, we have several years of experience in dealing with cases involving Fragile X syndrome, and our specialist carers are expertly trained to deal with all of the needs of those affected by it.

We provide several comprehensive, semi-independent living services throughout North London & Hertfordshire. Our projects are located close to transport links and local amenities, and are staffed up to 24 hours a day offering a high level, structured and supervised group living arrangement that will meet all of your expectations.

Several studies have indicated that there is a connection between health problems and our ability to process thoughts.

These health factors have been shown to increase the risk of brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. The studies suggest that the likelihood of memory complaints have spread across all adult age groups, including young adults between the ages of 18-39.