Child Maintenance Service

Steve Yemm Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2026 Westminster Hall

[Kirith Entwistle]

As I mentioned earlier, there is a big issue with how the CMS communicates with both parents.

[Steve Yemm (Mansfield) (Lab)]

We have all received casework on this subject. I often find that what I can only term incompetence by the CMS enables non-resident parents to shirk financial responsibility—at the expense of the child, at the end of the day. Does my hon. Friend agree that we in Government must look into these issues and take decisive action to ensure that the CMS is fit for purpose, gets a grip and actually does the job we are asking it to do?

[Kirith Entwistle]

I completely agree. These issues are not theoretical; I see them repeatedly in cases raised by my own constituents in Bolton. One constituent, who I will call Emily, left an abusive relationship and is still dealing with the consequences through the CMS. She describes intimidation and harassment from the father of her children, alongside unreliable maintenance payments. Money arrives late, arrives short or does not arrive at all. Her case remains on direct pay, meaning that the system still relies on co-operation between parents, even when there is a history of abuse. For many survivors, that is not a neutral arrangement: it can mean ongoing contact with the person they are trying to escape and persistent fear about what will happen if they challenge missing payments.

Emily has repeatedly asked for her case to be moved to collect and pay, so that payments can be handled through the CMS without that direct interaction, yet delays, missed call-backs and poor communication have left her stuck in a process that exposes her to distress and financial uncertainty. Other frontline charities in Bolton, such as Endeavour, tell me that they see that pattern all too regularly. Survivors describe payments being withheld, not because the other parent cannot afford to pay but because that unpredictability becomes a form of control. Many report that payments stop just before birthdays, Christmas or school holidays, only to restart later. That pattern is not random; it is about maintaining power. Survivors tell us that they feel trapped by the CMS, and we absolutely must listen.

Oral Answers to Questions

Steve Yemm Excerpts

Monday 9th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Pat McFadden]

My hon. Friend asks an excellent question. The fact that net migration is falling to lower levels than we have seen for some time gives added urgency to a question that has often been posed: why do we not do more to train our own workers? That is precisely why I am prioritising youth apprenticeship starts, which fell by 40% under the previous Government. We must arrest that decline and ensure that we respond to the new situation of falling levels of net migration by training more of our own young people.

[Steve Yemm (Mansfield) (Lab)]

Will the Secretary of State outline what exactly the youth guarantee means for young people in my constituency of Mansfield?

[Pat McFadden]

What it will mean for young people in my hon. Friend’s constituency, and many others, is intensive work coach training, and the chance of training or work experience. If that does not get them into a job, ultimately it will mean a subsidised job, where they get six months of work experience, paid at the national minimum wage for 25 hours a week. The last thing we want is people leaving education and going on to a life on benefits.

Neurodivergent People: Employment

Steve Yemm Excerpts

Tuesday 9th September 2025 Westminster Hall

[Charlotte Cane]

I do not know about self-employment being “better”, but it is certainly important, because different things will work best for different people. Neurodivergent people need the same full choice as non-neurodivergent people.

[Steve Yemm (Mansfield) (Lab)]

Specifically on that point, it is important to recognise that neurodivergent people, particularly young neurodivergent people, should be treated individually, as the hon. Member has just suggested. In my constituency, West Notts college offers a number of entirely bespoke courses that are specifically designed have that sort of impact. The outcomes from those courses are truly phenomenal and West Notts college deserves our praise for helping so many young people into further education and back into employment. Does the hon. Member agree that a one-size-fits-all approach is really not the best way to get neurodivergent people, and those with special educational needs and disabilities, back into education and employment?

[Esther McVey (in the Chair)]

Order. May I remind hon. Members that interventions are just that? They are interventions, not short speeches.

Oral Answers to Questions

Steve Yemm Excerpts

Monday 12th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Western]

I am not able to explain the reason for that difference, but I am able to reassure the right hon. Gentleman that we are looking to move away from telephone appointments and return as quickly as possible to assessments made face to face wherever we are able to do so.

[Steve Yemm (Mansfield) (Lab)]

Can the Minister give us more information on what the PIP assessment review will look like?

[Andrew Western]

As my hon. Friend will appreciate, the review has only been announced today. There are a considerable number of strands to it that will be led by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Social Security and Disability. What I can tell my hon. Friend is that, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said earlier, that work is beginning this week by reaching out, as is entirely appropriate, to those stakeholder organisations, who will feed in to the purpose and scope of that work moving forward.