Name and shame on internet for fathers who fail to pay up

The details of fathers taken to court for failing to pay maintenance for their children will be posted on the internet.

The deliberate shaming is intended to become a powerful deterrent to parents trying to avoid taking financial responsibility for their children.

John Hutton, the Work and Pensions Secretary, will propose the measure on Wednesday as part of plans to reform the Child Support Agency.

Mr Hutton has also faced down opposition from cabinet colleagues to plans to legally require both parents' details to be given on a birth certificate.

In leaked correspondence, Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, and Harriet Harman, a minister in his Department for Constitutional Affairs, termed the proposal "unworkable".

But worries that women who have been victims of rape or domestic violence will not want to register a child's father have failed to stop the proposal from being included in a White Paper to be published this Wednesday.

Among other controversial proposals is that parents deemed at risk of defaulting on payments could have their passports confiscated or be subjected to curfews.

Those paying maintenance will be forced to pay a share towards the CSA's running costs to encourage more parents to reach private arrangements.