Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the Child Maintenance Service has used the following enforcement sanctions to date: (1) suspended passport confiscation, (2) suspended disqualification from driving, (3) immediate prison sentence, (4) immediate passport confiscation, and (5) immediate driving disqualification.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Sanctions such as sending Paying Parents to prison, disqualifying them from holding or obtaining a passport or driving licence are a last resort and only used when every other method of recovering unpaid child maintenance has been tried. The CMS only pursues these sanctions when they believe the Paying Parent can pay but is refusing to do so. Where this is found to be the case CMS will quickly move to taking court action.

The Department publishes Child Maintenance Service (CMS) statistics regularly and the relevant information can be accessed from Table 6.2 of the supplementary tables in the latest release.

From July 2019 to June 2024, there were 4 suspended passport confiscations, 25 suspended qualifications from driving, 17 immediate prison sentences, 3 immediate passport confiscations and 2 immediate driving disqualifications.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement the recommendations accepted in Dr Samantha Callan's report Independent Review of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) response to Domestic Abuse, published on 17 January 2022.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The scale of violence against women and girls in our country is intolerable and this Government will treat it as the national emergency that it is.

The previous government accepted eight of the ten recommendations in Dr Callan’s review and had made good progress in implementing these including introducing legislation to remove the £20 application fee in February 2024. The CMS domestic training has been reviewed following engagement with stakeholders to ensure it supports victims and survivors of abuse effectively.

This Government is committed to building on these improvements. Following a trial of a dedicated team to handle domestic abuse cases, this has been rolled out across the CMS to support vulnerable customers including where the most challenging or complex domestic abuse is an issue.

This government has extended the consultation that was launched in May 2024 which explored proposals to reform the CMS. This included removing Direct Pay and managing all CMS cases in one service to allow the CMS to tackle non-compliance faster and explore how victims and survivors of domestic abuse can be better supported. The consultation closed on 30 September 2024 and a response will be published in due course.

The Department is also progressing a review of the child maintenance calculation, aspects of which were the subject of Dr Callan’s recommendations, to address issues of affordability of liabilities for low-income families. Any changes to the CMS calculation will require further consultation and legislative changes would need parliamentary approval.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total amount of child maintenance arrears collected through enforcement action to date.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) continues to take rigorous action to collect maintenance, combining robust negotiation activity with the highly effective use of its extensive range of Enforcement Powers. This approach is driven by the Payment Compliance strategy increasing CMS compliance influencing activities to tackle non-paying cases and challenge non-compliant behaviours.

The Department publishes Child Maintenance Service (CMS) statistics regularly and the relevant information can be accessed from Table 6.1 Enforcement Actions in the supplementary tables in the latest release.

Between April 2015 and June 2024, the CMS has collected a total of £80.8m from Paying Parents via enforcement actions taken to collect both the maintenance arranged by the CMS, and Child Support Agency arrears that have been transitioned to CMS systems. This may include actions taken against parents for whom no ongoing maintenance has been arranged under the CMS.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government on how many occasions the Child Maintenance Service has referred cases to the Crown Prosecution Service or provided assistance to the police to prosecute those who commit the controlling or coercive behaviour offence post-separation.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Following the extension of the offence of coercion and control to post-separation, the CMS have considered the implications for the policy and operational framework within which statutory child maintenance arrangements sit. The CMS will not have a role in prosecuting those who commit this form of abuse. The CMS will provide all feasible assistance to the police who remain best equipped to investigate and prosecute those who commit the offence of coercion and control post-separation.

CMS caseworkers signpost parents to appropriate support organisations/police to report abuse and we can act on their behalf if they are in immediate danger.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the total amount of child maintenance arrears owed to date; and of the total number of children for whom maintenance is accordingly outstanding.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) always encourages paying parents to pay their maintenance on time, to avoid accrual of arrears. Where a paying parent fails to pay on time or in full, the CMS aims to take immediate action to recover the debt and re-establish compliance. The CMS is committed to using its wide-ranging enforcement powers proportionally, and in the best interests of children and separated families.

The Department publishes Child Maintenance Service (CMS) statistics regularly and the relevant information can be accessed from Table 5 of the supplementary tables in the latest release.

Table 5 counts how much child maintenance due has accumulated since the CMS began, in 2012. At the end of June 2024 this was £654.6m. Please note that this figure does not include arrears incurred with the Child Support Agency pre-2012.

The information requested on the total number of children for whom maintenance is outstanding is not readily available, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many times the Child Maintenance Service has identified inaccurate financial disclosures of the paying parent via HM Revenue and Customs; and in those cases, (1) how many times was enforcement action taken, and (2) how much maintenance was collected as a result.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department does not hold information on the number of inaccurate financial disclosures of the paying parent via HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). CMS take steps to ensure the child maintenance case is accurate prior to taking any enforcement actions.

The department legally relies on data from HMRC and its own benefits data to assess people’s earned income and benefit status, which are key parts of the maintenance calculation. This makes it difficult for most parents to misstate their income. The receiving parent can also ask the Department to consider the paying parent’s more complex earnings, such as unearned income, which are more vulnerable to fraud and error.

To ensure calculations are accurate the department continues to build on its already proportionate and cost-effective controls, such as:

• a dedicated Financial Investigation Unit who address allegations of misrepresentation and fraud

• use of verified income from HMRC and benefit systems as outlined in legislation and a principal part of service design.

• use of child benefit systems to verify qualifying child(ren)

• procedures and policy to request additional verification

• a robust mandatory consideration and appeals process.

The Financial Investigation Unit conduct investigations into potential criminal offences linked to Child Maintenance such as DNA testing fraud and providing false income information to the department, this can result in prosecution through Crown Prosecution Service.

The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service and the latest statistics are available up to June 2024. Table 7: Financial Investigations Unit Actions, Great Britain, April 2017 to June 2024, in the latest National Tables, does provide the available information on investigations into potential criminal offences, such as DNA testing fraud and providing false income information.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government on how many occasions they have provided supporting evidence to assist in the prosecution of individuals committing tax fraud or avoidance following deliberate inaccurate financial disclosures to the Child Maintenance Service.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department does not hold information on the number of inaccurate financial disclosures of the paying parent via HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). CMS take steps to ensure the child maintenance case is accurate prior to taking any enforcement actions.

The department legally relies on data from HMRC and its own benefits data to assess people’s earned income and benefit status, which are key parts of the maintenance calculation. This makes it difficult for most parents to misstate their income. The receiving parent can also ask the Department to consider the paying parent’s more complex earnings, such as unearned income, which are more vulnerable to fraud and error.

To ensure calculations are accurate the department continues to build on its already proportionate and cost-effective controls, such as:

• a dedicated Financial Investigation Unit who address allegations of misrepresentation and fraud

• use of verified income from HMRC and benefit systems as outlined in legislation and a principal part of service design.

• use of child benefit systems to verify qualifying child(ren)

• procedures and policy to request additional verification

• a robust mandatory consideration and appeals process.

The Financial Investigation Unit conduct investigations into potential criminal offences linked to Child Maintenance such as DNA testing fraud and providing false income information to the department, this can result in prosecution through Crown Prosecution Service.

The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service and the latest statistics are available up to June 2024. Table 7: Financial Investigations Unit Actions, Great Britain, April 2017 to June 2024, in the latest National Tables, does provide the available information on investigations into potential criminal offences, such as DNA testing fraud and providing false income information.