Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average response time is for CMS dispute appeals where a non-resident parent challenges the assessment on the basis of (a) false information and (b) undeclared shared care.

Information specifically in relation to false information or undeclared share care is not available. Child Maintenance Service appeals, together with Jobseekers Allowance, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Relief and Employment and Support Allowance (with no medical element), are heard by a judge.

In the last quarter for which data is available, January to March 2025, the average time to clear Social Security and Child Support Tribunal appeals which were heard by a Judge only, was 33 weeks.

To reduce the time taken to resolve CMS disputes that have reached Appeal stage, the disputes service has taken the following actions:

• Recruited an additional team of CMS Appeal Writers in January 2025.
• Working to identify continuous improvement activity to improve the customer journey and reduce wait times.
• Utilising overtime to increase clearance volumes.
• Supporting a two-way data sharing agreement with HMCTS to identify pre-registration Appeal volumes.