Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how her Department assesses child maintenance liabilities in cases where HMRC has not received updated PAYE or self-assessment records at the end of the financial year.

In the first instance the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will use HMRC data to assess liability. If this is not available, CMS sources information directly from the paying parent or their employer. CMS have powers to estimate income where the information provided is insufficient or atypical. This estimation will initially be based on the most recent HMRC information available or, depending on the circumstances of the case, the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (a sampled survey of employers taken by HMRC).