Children: Maintenance

(asked on 18th February 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2022 to Question 119710 on Children: Maintenance, what steps her Department is taking to revise the step by step procedural instructions and training given to Child Maintenance Service caseworkers, in the context of the number of Deduction from Earnings Orders, instead of Deduction from Earnings Requests, to the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Business Services having increased between 2018-19 and 2020-21.


Answered by
Guy Opperman Portrait
Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This question was answered on 28th February 2022

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has introduced Modular learning products to re-enforce the correct process to follow in applying a Deduction from Earnings Request (DER). In April 2021, as part of a broader System automation improvement, there were additional education and supporting products implemented to support correct decision making, including the correct use of DERs.

CMS uses Customer Insight to ensure it learns from customer experience and has used this in developing these products and building colleague conversations around adherence to procedures and the impact of not doing so.

In the context of DERs, collaborative working with Ministry of Defence (MOD) through a dedicated Forces Focal point secures regular feedback to direct specific colleague upskilling and manage customer service. CMS Forces Focal Point work closely with MOD’s Joint Personnel Administration Centre (JPAC) and has responsibility for assuring correct implementation of DERs. This includes confirming if the Paying Parent is in receipt of full pay or if they deployed on Operations. This is designed to support the successful implementation of a DER.

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