Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government on how many occasions the Child Maintenance Service has referred cases to the Crown Prosecution Service or provided assistance to the police to prosecute those who commit the controlling or coercive behaviour offence post-separation.

Following the extension of the offence of coercion and control to post-separation, the CMS have considered the implications for the policy and operational framework within which statutory child maintenance arrangements sit. The CMS will not have a role in prosecuting those who commit this form of abuse. The CMS will provide all feasible assistance to the police who remain best equipped to investigate and prosecute those who commit the offence of coercion and control post-separation.

CMS caseworkers signpost parents to appropriate support organisations/police to report abuse and we can act on their behalf if they are in immediate danger.