Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on what date will the Child Support Collection Act 2023 enter into force.

Preventing domestic abuse within CMS remains a key priority for the department and we want to work at pace to tackle it. The Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act 2023 requires secondary legislation before it can come into force. We will engage widely with stakeholders and other government departments to ensure the changes made are right.

The department has already commenced a single caseworker pilot where there are cases of Domestic Abuse within CMS. The evaluation of this pilot will take place early next year. We have also implemented mandatory training for all CMS staff in how to respond to cases of domestic abuse and rolled out a complex needs toolkit which provides caseworkers with clear steps to follow where there are cases involving domestic abuse.