Absent parents who refuse to pay their childrens maintenence could be named and shamed on a new website.

The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Committee (C-MEC) will replace the Child Support Agency (CSA) next year and aims to introduce tough new measures on absent parents forcing them to pay for their children.

Other measures include removing passports of parents who refuse to pay for their children, curfews on non paying parents, taking money out of bank accounts, basing payments on earnings based on tax filings, calculating on gross instead of net income and charging parents for the costs of tracking them down.

The parent looking after the child will be asked if they mind that the name of the pay dodging parent will be put on a website. If there is no objection within 14 days the names of those who do not provide for their child will be poste on the CSA website.

Under the new system parents will be encouraged to come to private agreements on how their child should be financially supported as opposed to complying with officially set arrangements like the CSA currently does.

John Hutton, the Work and Pensions Secretary said: "There are a small number of parents who seem to think that paying for their kids is something they can simply choose not to do. And these new powers mean that non-payment brings real and lasting penalties."