Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the planned commencement date is for the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to ensuring separated parents support their children financially, taking robust enforcement action against those who do not.
When a paying parent does not make maintenance payments on time or in full, the CMS will initially negotiate a payment that is feasible for the parent to pay. If this is unsuccessful and the paying parent is employed, the CMS will request that ongoing child maintenance payments be deducted directly from their salary by issuing what we call a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO). The CMS also has powers to deduct maintenance from a wide range of bank accounts including joint and business accounts.
If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures, including using Enforcement Agents to take control of goods, disqualification from driving or commitment to prison, and disqualification from holding or obtaining a UK passport.
We continually assess the effectiveness of our enforcement action and in the year to September 2025, the CMS collected £214m through administrative and court-based enforcement actions (including deductions from earnings). This is the highest annual amount collected through enforcement since the CMS began in 2012, and represents a 21% increase compared with the year to September 2024.
Following the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 receiving royal assent in July 2023, secondary legislation is required to bring into force existing powers that allow the CMS to make an administrative liability order against a person who has failed to pay child maintenance and is in arrears. A liability order is a legal recognition of the debt and is required before the CMS can take certain enforcement actions against non-compliant parents to enforce those arrears.
The administrative liability order (ALO) will replace the current requirement for the CMS to apply to the court for a liability order, a cumbersome process which can take a long time (in some cases up to 22 weeks). Introducing a simpler administrative process will enable the CMS to take faster action against those paying parents who actively avoid their responsibilities and will get money to children more quickly.
We expect the new liability order process in the majority of cases to take around 6 weeks. Changes will mean the CMS can use its strong enforcement powers more quickly to go after those who will fully avoid their financial obligations to their children.
We are working with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and the Scottish Government to establish a process for implementing ALOs and plan to introduce regulations to Parliament as soon as possible.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what enforcement powers are exercised by the Child Maintenance Service pending the commencement of the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to ensuring separated parents support their children financially, taking robust enforcement action against those who do not.
When a paying parent does not make maintenance payments on time or in full, the CMS will initially negotiate a payment that is feasible for the parent to pay. If this is unsuccessful and the paying parent is employed, the CMS will request that ongoing child maintenance payments be deducted directly from their salary by issuing what we call a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO). The CMS also has powers to deduct maintenance from a wide range of bank accounts including joint and business accounts.
If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures, including using Enforcement Agents to take control of goods, disqualification from driving or commitment to prison, and disqualification from holding or obtaining a UK passport.
We continually assess the effectiveness of our enforcement action and in the year to September 2025, the CMS collected £214m through administrative and court-based enforcement actions (including deductions from earnings). This is the highest annual amount collected through enforcement since the CMS began in 2012, and represents a 21% increase compared with the year to September 2024.
Following the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 receiving royal assent in July 2023, secondary legislation is required to bring into force existing powers that allow the CMS to make an administrative liability order against a person who has failed to pay child maintenance and is in arrears. A liability order is a legal recognition of the debt and is required before the CMS can take certain enforcement actions against non-compliant parents to enforce those arrears.
The administrative liability order (ALO) will replace the current requirement for the CMS to apply to the court for a liability order, a cumbersome process which can take a long time (in some cases up to 22 weeks). Introducing a simpler administrative process will enable the CMS to take faster action against those paying parents who actively avoid their responsibilities and will get money to children more quickly.
We expect the new liability order process in the majority of cases to take around 6 weeks. Changes will mean the CMS can use its strong enforcement powers more quickly to go after those who will fully avoid their financial obligations to their children.
We are working with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and the Scottish Government to establish a process for implementing ALOs and plan to introduce regulations to Parliament as soon as possible.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for complaints investigations in the Child Maintenance Service that lasted longer than 15 working days, what percentage of complainants received written confirmation of this delay in the last year.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) complaint data information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The CMS complies with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) complaints service standard, to aim to resolve complaints or set a resolution plan within 15 working days. Where a complaint is complex and requires more time, the CMS will inform the complainant within this period of the next steps and when a response can be expected.
The CMS regularly reviews complaint data, including insights from the Independent Case Examiner, to identify key themes and trends, which they use to drive improvements to the complaint handling process. Furthermore, lessons learned are regularly presented to operational teams, supporting them to deliver effective interventions at the initial stage of the complaint and thereby improve the overall customer experience.
The CMS remains focussed on taking pro-active steps to improve the customer experience, developing its customer service strategy to focus on improving current and future service throughout the customer journey.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints to the Child Maintenance Service were resolved (a) within 15 working days, (b) between 15-20 working days, (c) between 20-30 working days and (d) after 30 working days in each year since 2021.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) complaint data information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The CMS complies with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) complaints service standard, to aim to resolve complaints or set a resolution plan within 15 working days. Where a complaint is complex and requires more time, the CMS will inform the complainant within this period of the next steps and when a response can be expected.
The CMS regularly reviews complaint data, including insights from the Independent Case Examiner, to identify key themes and trends, which they use to drive improvements to the complaint handling process. Furthermore, lessons learned are regularly presented to operational teams, supporting them to deliver effective interventions at the initial stage of the complaint and thereby improve the overall customer experience.
The CMS remains focussed on taking pro-active steps to improve the customer experience, developing its customer service strategy to focus on improving current and future service throughout the customer journey.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether complaints to the Child Maintenance Service that are time-sensitive to payment deadlines are prioritised.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) complaint data information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The CMS complies with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) complaints service standard, to aim to resolve complaints or set a resolution plan within 15 working days. Where a complaint is complex and requires more time, the CMS will inform the complainant within this period of the next steps and when a response can be expected.
The CMS regularly reviews complaint data, including insights from the Independent Case Examiner, to identify key themes and trends, which they use to drive improvements to the complaint handling process. Furthermore, lessons learned are regularly presented to operational teams, supporting them to deliver effective interventions at the initial stage of the complaint and thereby improve the overall customer experience.
The CMS remains focussed on taking pro-active steps to improve the customer experience, developing its customer service strategy to focus on improving current and future service throughout the customer journey.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help improve complaint response times from the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) complaint data information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The CMS complies with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) complaints service standard, to aim to resolve complaints or set a resolution plan within 15 working days. Where a complaint is complex and requires more time, the CMS will inform the complainant within this period of the next steps and when a response can be expected.
The CMS regularly reviews complaint data, including insights from the Independent Case Examiner, to identify key themes and trends, which they use to drive improvements to the complaint handling process. Furthermore, lessons learned are regularly presented to operational teams, supporting them to deliver effective interventions at the initial stage of the complaint and thereby improve the overall customer experience.
The CMS remains focussed on taking pro-active steps to improve the customer experience, developing its customer service strategy to focus on improving current and future service throughout the customer journey.
Asked by: Sam Rushworth (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many paying parents were newly recorded as being in arrears by the Child Maintenance Service in each of the last 24 months.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and providing it would incur disproportionate cost.
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will do everything within its powers to make sure parents comply. Where parents fail to take responsibility for paying for their children, the Service will not hesitate to use the range of enforcement powers available to collect maintenance, combining robust negotiation activity with the highly effective use of its extensive range of Enforcement Powers.
CMS has a wide range of strong enforcement powers including deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licences, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison. The CMS also introduced powers to enable the deduction of child maintenance directly from a wider range of accounts, including certain joint and business accounts, and target complex earners via a calculation of notional income based on assets.
The Service is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what protections are in place within the Child Maintenance Service to support parents and children experiencing financial abuse.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) takes the issue of domestic abuse extremely seriously and recognises that domestic abuse can take many forms including physical, emotional, or financial abuse, violent or threatening behaviour and coercive control.
CMS has procedures to ensure victims and survivors can use the service safely. All caseworkers receive training to identify abuse and signpost parents to specialist domestic abuse organisations where needed.
A Specialist Case Team manages the most complex cases, reducing the need for victims to repeat their experiences and ensuring tailored support for vulnerable customers.
For Direct Pay cases, CMS can act as an intermediary to exchange bank details, preventing any unwanted contact between parents. CMS can also advise on secure bank accounts with centralised sort codes to reduce the risk of location being traced.
The Government's intention remains to remove Direct Pay and move to a single service in which CMS collects and transfers all payments. This will remove the need for victims and survivors to provide evidence of domestic abuse and eliminate direct contact between parents. CMS will monitor all payments and act swiftly where payments fail, helping to tackle non-compliance and better support victims and survivors. We intend to implement these changes as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Joani Reid (Independent - East Kilbride and Strathaven)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to providing a modern and efficient service for all customers.
CMS continues to exceed key performance indicators, including application clearances, change of circumstances clearances, Collect and Pay compliance and assessment accuracy, demonstrating improved outcomes for customers.
Through the Service Modernisation Programme, CMS is expanding digital channels and self-service options, including online services like Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance and My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC) which are available 24/7. CMS has improved customer communications via SMS, email and providing improved and clearer letters. Increased use of online services ensures resources are available to support customers with addition and/or complex queries or needs with call routing improvements made to ensure faster access to caseworkers-owning teams.
In July 2025, CMS launched Customer Connect, an online service that allows caseworkers and customers to exchange information efficiently through the customer’s online account, reducing the need for phone contact. CMS is now developing plans to roll out Customer Connect across the full service and for all case types.
Asked by: Catherine Fookes (Labour - Monmouthshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
What steps he is taking to improve the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Child Maintenance payments keep around 120,000 children out of poverty each year.
The Government intends to replace Direct Pay with a more effective Collect and Pay model, as soon as parliamentary time allows, tackling non‑compliance and ensuring maintenance reaches children. Fees for compliant parents will be reduced, while stronger enforcement will target non‑payers. The Government is also reviewing the outdated calculation formula to ensure fairness and better outcomes for children.