Here are the government guidelines for magistrates clerks
http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/cod...ated_Oct07.pdf
I think she has 'overstepped her mark' by advising the parents to complain.
(and possibly breached some others to - eg 'impartiality').
When magistrates dealt with child maintenance cases, I had dealings with them professionally. Even back then they regarded themselves as 'tin gods' and 'they who must be obeyed'.
They regarded lay magistrates as amateurs who needed to be told what to do (
and what verdict to return)
It looks like the old ways persist here.