Anybody know whats going on at the good old CSA.
Is it being closed down as I keep hearing?

And will I not have to pay **** loads of cash for a daughter I cant see anymore?

Ta.

The Head Honcho was supposed to have been quitting back in November, but he is still in the job for some reason. :suspect:

The CSA has had a reprieve. It had been threatened with outright closure (in November) but the powers that be had a change of heart. Well a change of hard-nosed head really. Basically they realised that they've spent so much money on the computer system that doesn't work that the only option is yo spend lots of money trying to get it to work. It's that or spend even more starting from scratch.

This is good news for CSA staff obviously, as their jobs aren't being axed. Quite what it means for other DWP staff (myself included) is less clear. The number of staff we have to lose as a department was calculated on the basis that the CSA was being scrapped, but even though it now is to stay we still have to lose the same number of jobs....from somewhere.

The head of the CSA was widely reported as having resisgned. In seniior civil service terms, "resign" doesn't mean you actually lose your job though. It means you hang on to your job til the old boys network finds you a cushy number in another department. One rule for them, another for us.

Oh, and yes I'm afraid that you (and I) will still have to pay **** loads of cash to the ex :(

Something definitely needs doing with the CSA, they're about as effective as a chocolate fireguard.

Thanks to them my ex-husband has only paid £20 in child support in the past 8 years. He owes his children thousands.

I can't see them closing it somehow and I cant' see it getting any better, they just hope that they can keep brushing it under the carpet. I also can't see EDS paying back the £500million squid they were paid for the software that does not work. I wish I could start up a company that the government could repeatedly pay vast sums of cash to for writing crap software..
GGGrrrrrrr
:mad:

The CSA are so useless I really cant see them ever getting their act together.

My ex hasnt paid me a penny in child support for over 4 years now and when I called the CSA to find out what was going on they told me they had closed my case, I mean how the hell do they close a case when there is still pending child support to be paid plus arrears outstanding.

For the men that do pay their child support, dont you feel that the CSA tend to go after you more so then they go after the fathers that dont pay?

I think its totally unfair and the powers that be should do something to get this crap service sorted.

Jo

Originally posted by ANGELUS
Anybody know whats going on at the good old CSA.
Is it being closed down as I keep hearing?

And will I not have to pay **** loads of cash for a daughter I cant see anymore?

Ta.

Why shouldn't you pay to support a child that you have fathered? Or perhaps you think that the state should pick up the tab.

Originally posted by ANGELUS

And will I not have to pay **** loads of cash for a daughter I cant see anymore?

Ta. [/B]

I can't believe anyone would post a comment like that on a public forum. I hope that Angelus and RichF children dont ever read them, although I suppose as they're hiding behind a screen name think they won't connect .... how sad for children to read that their fathers are only supporting them under duress

The amounts of money that men pay towards their children is pitiful in many cases ... they seem to abdicate all responsibility once they split with their partners. And the amount of practical help and imput in many cases is minimal ... and they dont even seem ashamed ...

and before you ask, yes - Ii do have a personal axe to grind ... myself, Moving On and Squashie are more typical than the ones whose children are receiving ****loads of cash (whatever that means) ...

I don't have any children of my own but my personal opinion is that if a mother won't allow a father to see his own child then it's unfair to expect him to support the child financially when he doesn't even get to see them growing up.

If the parent with custody can decide that they don't need the ex's physical help to raise the child then they should forfeit the right to financial help as well.

Different case with me I'm afraid Pauly. I begged and demanded the father of my children to be more actively involved but he wasn't interested. It isn't always the mother who's keeping the natural father away.

Children are happier if they know they are loved by both parents, regardless of whom they live with. My ex-husband hasn't bothered to write, or even send as much as a birthday card to his two children in the past 8 years. It's his loss because they're fabulous kids - a lot like me though, pretty gobby. lol

I just wish irresponsible fathers, like my ex, someday learn how much damage they have caused to their children. The kids have seen him, passing on the street but don't know him from Adam.

I think they should close down the CSA and maybe they should have done it years ago. Or at last change the way it works, this way sounds better:

Fathers/Mothers should not have to pay for a child they do not either have access to or are not allowed to contact them in any form.

The money paid to the CSA should be placed into a bank account which when the child/children are 18 or over have access to.

I know someone who was sucked up by the CSA and they refused to pay it as the child never sees the cash, instead he decided to open a bank account and the cash was paid into it monthly, now his daughter is driving in her own car paid for by her dads maintenance and he now sees her on a regular basis.

That to me seems a better idea?:|

My other half suggested this idea when she read my post above and I think it's a very good idea, as long as the ex-partner isn't allowed access to it. Some people can be very sneaky.

Originally posted by rubydazzler
I can't believe anyone would post a comment like that on a public forum. I hope that Angelus and RichF children dont ever read them, although I suppose as they're hiding behind a screen name think they won't connect .... how sad for children to read that their fathers are only supporting them under duress

The amounts of money that men pay towards their children is pitiful in many cases ... they seem to abdicate all responsibility once they split with their partners. And the amount of practical help and imput in many cases is minimal ... and they dont even seem ashamed ...

and before you ask, yes - Ii do have a personal axe to grind ... myself, Moving On and Squashie are more typical than the ones whose children are receiving ****loads of cash (whatever that means) ...


Whoah Whoah Whoah there!
I have never said I didnt want to pay for my daughter.
I love my daughter with all my heart and soul and I would never wish not to pay my rightfull dues to her.

My bitch ex wont let me see her- and its been 5 years now- I've tried going to the solicitors, they have sent the ex letters which havent been responded to- the solicitors have sent threats- nothing- I ASKED for the CSA to get involved in this- I ASKED for the paternity test and my daughter is 100% mine.
STILL NOTHING CAN BE DONE.

Then I have found out that my ex has ****** off to skegness with my little one.. so I cant track her down.

AND to top it all off- my name is not on my childs birth certificate.

So dont tell me what I should and not be doing.
Women like my ex are a disgrace to womankind.
She has used me for a kid and I dont have any legal recourse into getting to see her again.

I WANT to see my child-- Im not like these scum dads who couldnt give a flying ****-- so dont treat me like those men.

Originally posted by Mo
Why shouldn't you pay to support a child that you have fathered? Or perhaps you think that the state should pick up the tab.

I would love to support my child thankyou.. its a shame that some women feel they have the right to have a kid with a partner and then not let them see them.

Those kind of women are a disgrace.

I have every right to see my child- but I cannot do anything as my ex has dissapeared taking my child with her.

SO if you are so good.. please tell me what I should do??

Dont just start throwing accusations about until you know all the facts OK.

You may well be prepared to do the 'right thing' but as you can see from some of the postings, many men aren't and couldn't give a damn about their financial responsibilities. I speak from experience here as somebody whose dad walked out when I was born some 45 years ago. He never paid a penny to my upkeep and left my mum to struggle single handedly to bring me up (which she did without any help from the state I may add).

On the other hand, I dare say sometimes the mother may think it in the childs best interest not to see its father, whatever the reasons may be.

Originally posted by ANGELUS
Whoah Whoah Whoah there!
I have never said I didnt want to pay for my daughter.
I love my daughter with all my heart and soul and I would never wish not to pay my rightfull dues to her.


I apologise to you Angelus ... you didn't make any of that clear in your original posting ... it did come across to me as though you were hoping you wouldn't have to pay anymore ...

I do sincerely feel for your situation, it must be heartbreaking but I still see from the experiences of people I know of, that a lot of men just give up on their children after a split in the relationship with the mother.

I hope that you manage to resolve the situation as both you and your daughter are missing out ...

Originally posted by rubydazzler
I apologise to you Angelus ... you didn't make any of that clear in your original posting ... it did come across to me as though you were hoping you wouldn't have to pay anymore ...

I do sincerely feel for your situation, it must be heartbreaking but I still see from the experiences of people I know of, that a lot of men just give up on their children after a split in the relationship with the mother.

I hope that you manage to resolve the situation as both you and your daughter are missing out ...

Thankyou for that.

I really do miss my daughter every day and it is very hard when I think that I've missed out on so much and I am missing more every single day.

But apparently the only thing I've been advised by friends to do is to stop paying CSA and hopefully my ex will come slithering out from where she is hiding to hopefully get in touch.

I dont really want to do that- as the CSA will be on my back about not paying and I really dont think it will work in the long run.

The CSA are not really helping me either to be honest.

They kind of treat you -if you are a bloke- like some kind of paedophile to be quite frank- basically not giving you any chance of seing your child.

Originally posted by NutroniC
Fathers/Mothers should not have to pay for a child they do not either have access to or are not allowed to contact them in any form.

The money paid to the CSA should be placed into a bank account which when the child/children are 18 or over have access to.

That to me seems a better idea?:|

so are you proposing that only the parent with primary responsiblity should cover the support of the child until it reaches its majority? I'm not clear on how you think this would work?

Are you saying that whilst a child is in need of care (ie in childhood when the primary carer would find it difficult to take paid work outside the home) the rest of us should be providing the financial support for the child/ren?

What if the Court has decided that the other parent is not allowed to have contact for any reason? Would your suggestion apply in those cases too?

As someone else commented earlier, it's good or even essential for a child's emotional wellbeing that it is at least is allowed to think that its parents both care about it - even if one is absent and providing only minimal support and practical help either through disinclination or Court Order..

I can see where you're coming from with this proposal but I cant see how it would work except to throw even more children into poverty.

I would answer, but I'm just too offended (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&postid=289686#post289686) . :D

Originally posted by Pauly
I don't have any children of my own but my personal opinion is that if a mother won't allow a father to see his own child then it's unfair to expect him to support the child financially when he doesn't even get to see them growing up.

If the parent with custody can decide that they don't need the ex's physical help to raise the child then they should forfeit the right to financial help as well.


I begged my ex to see his son on a regular basis but he told me he wanted to concentrate on his social life, to say the least I was discusted, and appalled at myself for choosing that wa*ker to be my sons father.

I never chose to be a single parent and I never in my life expected to struggle with trying to support me and my son without any help from my ex, and I dont just mean financial help, most of us mothers are not the money grabbing kind I can assure you, I had only ever asked my ex to help me out with nappies if thats all he could do, but he wouldnt even do that.

My ex did attempt to reunite with his son a few years ago, and I allowed this to take place, but to my horror I had to endure verbal abuse in front of my son and accusations that I was a bad parent, yet I'm the one who has provided a roof over our heads and food on the table and clothes on my childs back, he has done nothing to contribute for 4 years now.

I made the choice after that fiasco not to allow my ex to have anymore contact because my son who was 4 years old at the time became very distressed and was not enjoying spending time with his Dad.

Its not easy to make a decision like that and not one I made lightly I can assure you, but it was the right decision for my son and as his parent and his mother I felt I had the right to make that decision and whether or not you agree with my choice I felt it was necessary for my child.

When my son is a teenager and he decides he wants to contact his father then he has my blessing because he will be mature enough to deal with it and hopefully wise enough to know that at least one parent didnt let him down.

Jo

I know my opinion was very cut-and-dried and doesn't take into account all the different scenarios that can happen.

Like Angelus I wasn't saying that I wouldn't WANT to pay towards my child's upbringing if I was denied access but I'd feel very resentful if this was my situation, especially if my child wanted to see me or was oblivious to the situation due to young age and wasn't allowed access by the unreasonable ex.

I don't believe that I could ever be like Squashie and MovingOn's ex partners and would never turn my back on a child that was mine. I'm sorry to hear that this is your situation and in both cases I'd agree that you did the right thing. A father like that doesn't deserve access. :(