Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Child Maintenance Service is meeting its internal target times for progressing cases and taking enforcement action.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to providing a modern and efficient service for all customers.

The CMS continues to strengthen its enforcement activity to ensure that parents meet their financial responsibilities. Where parents can afford to pay but do not, the CMS has a range of strong enforcement powers that it can and does use swiftly to influence a return to compliance.

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 published quarterly CMS statistics provide information on application clearances, change of circumstances clearances and Collect and Pay compliance, with the latest data available for quarter ending September 2025.