Children: Maintenance
(asked on 9th September 2024) - View Source
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims were processed by the Child Maintenance Agency in each of the last five years; and how many appeals were (a) lodged, (b) fully processed, (c) upheld and (d) rejected.
A principle of child maintenance is to increase levels of cooperation between separated parents and encourage parents to meet their responsibilities to provide their children with financial support.
Where a family-based child maintenance arrangement is not suitable the Child Maintenance Service offers a statutory scheme for those parents who need it.
When a parent joins the statutory scheme Child Maintenance Service will do everything within its powers to ensure parents comply and meet their obligations to children.
In the 12 months up to March 2024 there were 131,300 claims to the child maintenance statutory scheme (rounded to the nearest 100) and the child maintenance service arranged £1.4 billion child maintenance through the statutory scheme, an increase from £1.2 billion during the previous 12 months.
CMS are wholly committed to delivering the best possible service to all customers within our growing caseload. When a Parent or their representative disagrees with a decision about a child maintenance calculation, they have the right to appeal. Before they do this, they must first ask for a Mandatory Reconsideration.
If the Child Maintenance Service decides not to change its decision the parent can follow the formal appeal process, handled by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) where an independent tribunal will look at the Child Maintenance Service’s decision.
The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) and the latest statistics are available up to March 2024.
Table 3 from the latest National tables contains the number of arrangements joining the Child Maintenance Service each quarter from January 2015 to March 2024. Table 11 contains information on the number of appeals made by parents to His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service to review a decision made by the Child Maintenance Service each quarter from April 2015 to March 2024.
Excerpts for the last five years for both tables are shown below.
Table 3: Intake, Great Britain, April 2019 to March 2024
Quarter of Application | Intake |
Apr to Jun 2019 | 22,300 |
Jul to Sep 2019 | 22,100 |
Oct to Dec 2019 | 17,200 |
Jan to Mar 2020 | 20,300 |
Apr to Jun 2020 [note 2] | 13,100 |
Jul to Sep 2020 | 21,800 |
Oct to Dec 2020 | 17,600 |
Jan to Mar 2021 | 18,400 |
Apr to Jun 2021 | 19,700 |
Jul to Sep 2021 | 21,300 |
Oct to Dec 2021 | 19,500 |
Jan to Mar 2022 | 26,900 |
Apr to Jun 2022 | 32,000 |
Jul to Sep 2022 | 33,600 |
Oct to Dec 2022 | 27,200 |
Jan to Mar 2023 | 32,400 |
Apr to Jun 2023 | 32,400 |
Jul to Sep 2023 | 34,700 |
Oct to Dec 2023 | 28,600 |
Jan to Mar 2024 | 35,600 |
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Source: Child Maintenance Service Management Information
Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
Note Number | Note Text |
note 1 | Intake includes new arrangements as well as arrangements where the parent has closed an existing arrangement and then decided to re-open it at a later date. |
note 2 | During the quarter ending June 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak may have reduced the demand for new Child Service Maintenance arrangements. |
Table 11: Appeals, Great Britain, April 2019 to March 2024
Quarter | Appeals Received | CMS Outcome: Withdrawn | CMS Outcome: | Tribunal Service Outcome: | Tribunal Service Outcome: | Total Clearances |
[note 1] | [note 2] | Revised [note 3] | Upheld [note 4] | Dismissed [note 5] | [note 6] | |
|
|
| ||||
Apr to Jun 2019 | 965 | 15 | 240 | 235 | 350 | 845 |
Jul to Sep 2019 | 965 | 20 | 165 | 225 | 385 | 795 |
Oct to Dec 2019 | 1,000 | 20 | 185 | 225 | 375 | 805 |
Jan to Mar 2020 | 1,105 | 15 | 195 | 225 | 385 | 820 |
Apr to Jun 2020 | 465 | 10 | 85 | 90 | 140 | 325 |
Jul to Sep 2020 | 1,030 | 20 | 125 | 120 | 210 | 470 |
Oct to Dec 2020 | 1,040 | 10 | 205 | 220 | 365 | 805 |
Jan to Mar 2021 | 980 | 5 | 175 | 240 | 445 | 865 |
Apr to Jun 2021 | 1,045 | 5 | 145 | 400 | 880 | 1,430 |
Jul to Sep 2021 | 1,120 | 10 | 155 | 315 | 365 | 850 |
Oct to Dec 2021 | 1,350 | 15 | 195 | 265 | 350 | 830 |
Jan to Mar 2022 | 735 | 20 | 255 | 330 | 455 | 1,060 |
Apr to Jun 2022 | 965 | 25 | 260 | 280 | 420 | 985 |
Jul to Sep 2022 | 895 | 35 | 250 | 360 | 490 | 1,135 |
Oct to Dec 2022 | 865 | 35 | 240 | 380 | 505 | 1,160 |
Jan to Mar 2023 | 1,110 | 10 | 100 | 295 | 345 | 745 |
Apr to Jun 2023 | 1,325 | 0 | 0 | 200 | 215 | 415 |
Jul to Sep 2023 | 1,085 | 20 | 220 | 200 | 180 | 620 |
Oct to Dec 2023 | 1,155 | 25 | 200 | 290 | 290 | 805 |
Jan to Mar 2024 | 1,030 | 10 | 225 | 310 | 220 | 770 |
Source: Child Maintenance Service Management Information
Figures are rounded to the nearest 5.
Note number | Note Text |
note 1 | Parents can appeal a decision by the Child Maintenance Service on payment amounts with the Tribunal Service which is impartial and independent of Government. Before they do this, they must ask the Child Maintenance Service to review and reconsider their decision (known as a Mandatory Reconsideration). |
note 2 | Where the parent decides that they no longer want to appeal the decision and withdraw the appeal. |
note 3 | Where the Child Maintenance Service finds the original decision to be incorrect, or the parent has supplied more information which changes the decision. |
note 4 | Where His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service overturns the decision made by the Child Maintenance Service and supports the parent's appeal. This includes appeals where the appellant provides additional evidence to the court. |
note 5 | Where the courts dismiss the appeal made by the parent and support the decision made by the Child Maintenance Service. |
note 6 | The sum of the Child Maintenance Service appeals withdrawn and revised in addition to the Tribunal Service appeals dismissed and upheld. |