Our sincere apologies that this event has been postponed until

Monday Feb 27th 6.30pm

We very much appreciate the pressure that all our MPs are subject to and last minute changes to their priorities as an MP to travel and to vote. We hope that you will be able to join us at the new date.

Sally-Ann Hart is MP for Hastings and Rye

How did Sally-Ann get into politics and how did she come to stand as MP for Hastings and Rye? What causes does she stand up for and why is this close to her heart? What is a Private Members Bill and how did Sally-Ann table it? What is the process and will she be successful in making it law? Do we all have a Private Members bill in us? What would yours be?

Background

Sally-Ann qualifyied as a lawyer specialising in corporate finance law with a City of London law firm. Sally-Ann later became a local Magistrate in Hastings, working in both the Adult Criminal and Family Proceedings Courts, and a District Councillor at Rother representing the ward of Eastern Rother. It is whilst as a Magistrate and Councillor that Sally-Ann realised her determination to be a Member of Parliament to help improve and enhance the lives of the less fortunate and vulnerable residents in her constituency. In particular, Sally-Ann has a drive to support rough sleepers and the homeless, as well as vulnerable children, young adults and families. Sally-Ann stood on a manifesto in December 2019 to deliver for the residents and businesses of Hastings and Rye. Since being elected Sally-Ann has made her priorities to turbo-charge the local economy, support the most vulnerable and fight for social justice.

Improving and enhancing local people’s lives includes education, health and well-being, a healthy and sustainable environment, as well as levelling up coastal communities. Her focus is therefore on levelling up, which crosses all government departments. Sally-Ann is especially passionate about education and improving the schools and aspirations of all children in her constituency.

Private Members Bill

'In June this year, I tabled a private members bill, the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Bill, which was debated and passed its second reading in the House of Commons last week. My bill seeks to amend primary legislation to allow for a child maintenance case to be placed on the collect and pay service if one parent (either receiving or paying) objects to using the ‘direct pay’ service on grounds of domestic abuse by the other parent.

Direct pay is the service whereby parents arrange the payments between themselves, whereas collect and pay is where the CMS collects payments from the paying parent and passes it on to the receiving parent. Requiring the receiving parent who is a victim of domestic abuse to use the direct pay service, thereby continuing a form of contact with their alleged abuser in order for payments to pass between parents, is a source of controversy because it facilitates ongoing coercion and abuse of the victim.

Importantly, my bill will add the option for moving to collect and pay without the consent of the other parent if there is evidence of domestic abuse, bolstering the Government's commitment to victims who are overwhelmingly women who too often find themselves in challenging financial situations - literally left holding the baby.

The main driver for pushing me into politics stems from my role as a magistrate in Hastings for many years. Working in both the Adult Criminal and Family Proceedings Courts, I could see how vital it is to get children and families right. One issue I regularly came across, rather sadly, was the lack of responsibility some men (in particular, it has to be said) failed to take for the nurture and financial support of their children. This often ran hand in hand with emotional or physical abuse of former wives or partners, as well as financial. Perpetrators of financial abuse exert control over their victims, constraining their freedom to leave abusive relationship. My bill seeks to limit the ongoing financial control an abuser may have over their former partner, once the relationship is over.

It takes two people to make a baby and both parents have a shared responsibility for their children until they reach adulthood. Ensuring that our children are clothed and fed, as well as loved and nurtured is, for the significant majority of us, a given. But there are still too many children where these basic needs are not met. Supporting victims of domestic abuse and ensuring that child maintenance payments are paid, lifts tens of thousands of children out of poverty and frees victims of domestic abuse, including children, from its long-term damage. We cannot allow those who contribute so little to family relationships ongoing control over them.'

Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Bill with Sally-Ann Hart MP