Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, under what circumstances would HM Paymaster amend the amount of maintenance owed provided through a calculation by the Child Maintenance Service.

The administration of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with the Child Maintenance Service to facilitate the direct deduction of child maintenance payments from the pay of parents who are Service personnel. In the case of Service personnel, the MOD receives a deduction of earning request rather than the more normal deduction of earning order.

The MOD will assist the CMS in engaging with the Service person and will implement any deduction of earning request from the CMS. The only exception is when the Service person is in an operational zone. Under the terms of the MOU, if a Service person is committed to operations, their Commanding Officer may delay any engagement with the CMS until the non-resident Service person is able to consider any papers that the CMS may send them and respond appropriately.