Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the Child Maintenance Service provides enforcement action in cases where considerable arrears have accrued over a ten year period.

The Child Maintenance Service has a range of powers to collect unpaid maintenance and enforce arrears.

In the year ending June 2026, CMS collected £235.4m through civil and legal enforcement actions (including deduction from earnings orders and requests) which is increasing year on year and is the highest amount collected through the administration of robust collection and enforcement powers.

For further details, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 October 2026 to Question 31527.