Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Child Maintenance Service’s approach to domestic abuse on the Government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls.
DWP is engaged in cross-government work to support the Home Office led Safer Streets Mission, which includes the ambition to halve Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) within the next decade. DWP has a key role to play in halving VAWG.
We are committed to ensuring that victims and survivors of domestic abuse get the help and support they need to use the CMS safely and have outlined in the consultation work the department is undertaking to support victims and survivors of domestic abuse to use the service safely.
The CMS have updated and refreshed DA learning, taking views and feedback from a roundtable held with external stakeholders in November 2023.
All caseworkers have received upskilling to help identify abuse and can provide signposting to support. A Domestic Abuse Plan is in place to support caseworkers having these conversations.
All colleagues (apart from those who joined and received Domestic Abuse Learning since April 2024) are undertaking refresher training. This is due to complete in summer 2025.
It is acknowledged that the current system can create opportunities for maintenance payments to be used as a tool of coercive behaviour and domestic abuse.
The changes to replace Direct Pay will represent a significant improvement to victims and survivors of domestic abuse using the CMS, by reducing contact with the other parent and reducing the paying parent’s ability to financially control the receiving parent by paying too little or too late, as is currently the case on Direct Pay.