Thin End Of The Wedge

Just read this article on the BBC. It seems that absent parents who don't keep up payments to their children may have their passports and/or driving licences removed from them under proposals currently being put forward in a White Paper.

I'm sure this will meet with fairly popular approval, however it does raise certain issues in my mind. Firstly, if you know where the person lives to the extent that you can physically go round and remove their driving licence, why don't you just remove goods from their property to the value of what they owe?

Secondly, if you don't know where the person lives and intend to remove their passport from them when they try to leave the country, how do you know you've got the right person? There could be a lot of embarrassed John Smith's in departure lounges, having to explain to angry partners who this family is that they're not maintaining financially.

The thing that really concerns me, however, is that if you start with absent parents, who's next for having their passport and driving licence taken off them?