Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many non-resident parents who have repeatedly failed to meet their child maintenance payment obligations have had their driving licenses disqualified as a consequence in each of the last five years.

The 2012 child maintenance reforms are designed to increase cooperation between separated parents and to ensure that children receive appropriate financial support. Where family-based arrangements are not suitable, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) operates a statutory scheme and applies a Payment Compliance strategy to address nonpayment. The CMS uses firm enforcement measures - such as liability orders, deductions from earnings, account deductions, passport and driving licence removal, and, in the most serious cases, imprisonment - when parents who have the means to pay choose not to. These powers are applied proportionately and in the best interests of children, and their deterrent effect ensures that their use remains low.

The Department regularly publishes Child Maintenance Service official statistics, with the latest statistics available to September 2025. Table 6.2 of the accompanying National tables provides the outcome information where the CMS applied to courts to sanction Paying Parents for non-compliance. The table shows quarterly statistics for both suspended and immediate prison sentences and driving disqualifications for England & Wales and for Scotland, between July 2019 and September 2025.