Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of child maintenance arrears that are (a) likely to be recovered in full, (b) partly recoverable and (c) unlikely to be recovered.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Administrative child maintenance schemes have operated in the UK since 1993. This response addresses the position of arrears under the 2012 child maintenance scheme, which has managed new applications since December 2012. There are legislative differences between arrears arising under this scheme and those accrued under previous schemes.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has a low percentage of unpaid maintenance. 7% of the total maintenance due to be paid since the CMS began, remains to be collected through Collect & Pay

Under the CMS 2012 scheme, all arrears are regarded as collectable unless the receiving parent (or child in Scotland) requests that CMS cease action, or in limited circumstances such as the death of the paying parent where recovery from the estate is not possible. As arrears are owed to the receiving parent rather than the Secretary of State, CMS does not deem any debt uncollectable. CMS continues to focus on enforcement based on the paying parent’s ability to pay, which may vary over time, and actively pursues unpaid maintenance of all ages to ensure children receive the financial support to which they are entitled.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what is the current total value is of child maintenance arrears.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Child Maintenance Service is committed to ensuring that child maintenance is paid in full and on time, and where arrears occur we take robust action to recover money owed to children and families.

The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service and the latest statistics are currently available to June 2025. Table 5 of the latest National tables shows the total amount of child maintenance that Paying Parents should have paid since the Child Maintenance Service began, and how much of that has not been paid as at the end of June 2025.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the total value of child maintenance arrears has been outstanding for (a) under 12 months, (b) 1 to 3 years, (c) 3 to 7 years and (d) more than 7 years.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department publishes annual accounts for the client funds relating to the statutory child maintenance schemes. The latest accounts for financial year ending 2025 provide relevant figures in Table 1: Analysis of unpaid maintenance by year they originate.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what performance metrics his Department uses to evaluate the timeliness and quality of support provided to Members of Parliament when handling child maintenance queries.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department’s internal performance metric is to aim to provide a response to MP and Customer enquiries or complaints within 15 working days or to advise them when to expect a response, if the matter is complex and will take longer. To embed quality and consistency into our handling of complaints and enquiries, DWP implemented a Complaints Quality Standards Framework in 2022, which is supported by internal quality assurance measures, and aligned to the Cross Government Complaints Standards.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of enforcement, including the recovery rate following (a) liability orders, (b) bailiff action and (c) deduction orders.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department monitors the effectiveness of Child Maintenance Service (CMS) enforcement processes to ensure compliance and support the collection of maintenance owed to children.

The information requested on assessments of the effectiveness of individual enforcement routes, including recovery rates is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

However, the Department publishes Child Maintenance Service (CMS) statistics regularly, and the latest statistics on enforcement actions taken by CMS, including the amount of money collected, are available for September 2025 in the latest data tables.

‘Table 6.1: Enforcement Actions, Great Britain, April 2015 to September 2025’ provides information on the amounts recovered and actions taken by CMS, including sanctions and other Civil Enforcement actions.

Please refer to the ‘Notes’ provided below the tables and the ‘Child Maintenance Service statistics: background information and methodology’ document for further detail and guidance on interpretation.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Maintenance Service cases involve missed payments for more than three months before enforcement action begins; and what factors account for delays.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested on the time from missed payments to enforcement action is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) remains committed to ensuring that children receive the financial support to which they are entitled and will always attempt to secure alternative methods of payments to gain improved compliance in cases where this fails.

While enforcement aims to be swift, paying parents have a right to appeal, which can delay proceedings. The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) must balance timely action with procedural fairness.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Maintenance Service enforcement actions in the most recent year for which data is available resulted in (a) full recovery of arrears, (b) partial recovery of arrears and (c) no recovery of arrears, by type of enforcement action.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested on the number of Child Maintenance Service (CMS) enforcement actions that resulted in full, partial or no recovery of arrears, broken down by type of enforcement action, is not readily available, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of child maintenance owed is collected within (a) 3, (b) 6 and (c) 12 months of assessment.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions does not currently publish statistics on what proportion of child maintenance owed is collected within (a) 3, (b) 6 and (c) 12 months of assessment. Therefore, the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many paying parents have a nil assessment for child maintenance, including by each reason for a nil assessment.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested on the number of paying parents with a nil assessment, broken down by each reason for that assessment, is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

A nil assessment for Child Maintenance applies only in specific circumstances. This includes where the paying parent has very low or no income, is in education or government approved training, is under 16, is receiving certain income related benefits, is in prison, or is in state funded residential care.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of Child Maintenance Service enforcement cases and increase compliance.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department does not have a backlog of Child Maintenance Service (CMS) enforcement cases. All cases requiring enforcement action are being actively progressed in accordance with established operational procedures.

The Department continues to strengthen enforcement activity to ensure that parents meet their financial responsibilities. In recent years, it has expanded the range of enforcement powers available to the CMS, enhanced case‑handling processes, and invested in additional capability to take timely action when payments are missed.

As a result of this sustained focus, published statistics show a significant increase in compliance, with the proportion of paying parents who paid some maintenance rising from 64% in the quarter ending September 2022 to 74% in the quarter ending September 2025. The Department remains committed to driving further improvement.

System improvements have been introduced to allow earlier identification of cases at risk of non‑payment, enabling quicker action to re‑establish compliance when payments fail or become irregular.

As part of wider reforms, the Government proposes moving to a single service by removing Direct Pay and expanding the Collect and Pay service. This will create a fully monitored system in which all payments are visible in real time, making non‑compliance easier to detect and allowing faster enforcement intervention.

To strengthen enforcement further, work is underway to introduce administrative liability orders (ALOs), which would remove the need to apply to the courts and reduce the current process to around six weeks in most cases. The Department is working with HMCTS and the Scottish Government to introduce regulations to Parliament as soon as possible.

The CMS remains focused on ensuring that maintenance is paid promptly and in full.

Found: response Responding in October 2022 to the issue in the House of Commons, then Security Minister Tom Tugendhat