Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls the Child Maintenance Service MP hotline has received in 2025.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) MP hotline is available for MP offices or constituency staff who need to contact CMS regarding a general enquiry or a constituency case. This service is in addition to written correspondence routes.
The hotline operates Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, and is staffed by Complaint Resolution Managers. We aim to provide an immediate response to enquiries wherever possible. For more complex cases, we will arrange follow-up contact with the caller to provide additional information.
For 2025, the CMS Parliamentary Line has received 1801 calls. Information is up to and including Tuesday 25th November 2025.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for Child Maintenance Service appeals that proceed to a Tribunal.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Data on Tribunals performance is published by the Ministry of Justice on a quarterly basis. Receipts, disposals and the outstanding caseload for individual Chambers in the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal, the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.
Appeals against Child Maintenance Service decisions are heard by the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal, which is part of the Social Entitlement Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal.
The Ministry of Justice is working to reduce the outstanding caseload across the Social Entitlement Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal, which includes the Social Security and Child Support jurisdiction. This is key to reducing the waiting time for tribunal hearings.
The Department continues to invest in improving tribunal capacity and productivity through the recruitment of additional Judges, the deployment of additional Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of new, modern case management systems, and the use of remote hearing technology where appropriate. If an expedited hearing is requested, a Judge or Legal Officer will consider this, taking all the circumstances into account.
We expect these actions to have a positive effect, improving timeliness and overall performance of the Tribunal in Child Maintenance Service appeals, and the Social Entitlement Chamber more broadly.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that paying parents who owe child maintenance are held responsible; and that enforcement action is taken to recover arrears and support children in separated families.
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.
If paying parents fail to meet their financial obligation to their children, the CMS has a range of strong enforcement powers including deduction from earnings orders and bank accounts, removing a parent’s passport or driving license and commitment to prison.
In the past year to June 2025, CMS collected £202m through administrative and legal enforcement actions (including deduction from earnings orders and requests) which is increasing year on year and is the highest amount collected through the administration of robust collection and enforcement powers.
We are working to introduce administrative liability orders (ALOs) which will replace the current requirement for the CMS to apply to the court for a liability order. 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.
Once in operation, 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 wilfully 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: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of eligible cases have the Child Maintenance Service used enforcement powers in including (a) liability orders, (b) bailiff action, (c) passport revocation and (d) driving licence revocation in each of the last five years; and what barriers exist to the Child Maintenance Service applying such enforcement powers in cases of persistent non-payment.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to ensuring that children receive the financial support to which they are entitled. Where a paying parent fails to meet their obligations under a statutory child maintenance arrangement, enforcement action is taken.
The Department regularly publishes Child Maintenance Service official statistics. The Enforcement section of the latest bulletin provides details on the enforcement actions used by the CMS, and further details of these for quarter ending June 2015 to quarter ending June 2025 are available in table 6.1 and 6.2 of the accompanying National tables.
Enforcement actions are used by the CMS to collect both the maintenance arranged by the CMS, and Child Support Agency arrears that have been transitioned to CMS systems. Details of the number of paying parents using the Collect and Pay service, and the compliance of those parents, for the same time period are available in the CMS Paying Parents dataset on Stat-Xplore. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access general guidance on how to extract the information required.
Enforcement can be more challenging where paying parents have irregular income, lack traceable assets, or receive benefits, as deductions may be limited or not feasible. These situations require careful consideration to ensure that enforcement remains proportionate and effective. In some instances, non-payment is used as a form of economic abuse. To support survivors, the CMS has introduced reforms, including easier access to the Collect and Pay service. While enforcement aims to be swift, paying parents have a right to appeal, which can delay proceedings. The CMS must balance timely action with procedural fairness.
The Department continues to monitor the effectiveness of enforcement measures and remains committed to further reforms to ensure that child maintenance is paid promptly and in full.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to improve information sharing between (a) the Child Maintenance Service, (b) HM Revenue and Customs and (c) his Department to help enable accurate income assessments.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The CMS maintains the accuracy of child maintenance calculations by using verified income information from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and benefit systems.
The department legally relies on data from HMRC and its own benefits data to assess 90% of people’s earned income and benefit status, which are key parts of the maintenance calculation.
Information about the paying parent's gross income is taken directly from HMRC for the latest tax year available. This allows calculations to be made quickly and accurately. Any income subject to income tax including bonuses and overtime received by an employed paying parent, is included within their gross weekly income when calculating a child maintenance liability.
The Government is conducting a review of the child maintenance calculation to make sure it is fit for purpose. This includes updating the underlying research and considering how to ensure the calculation reflects current and future societal trends. The review will also consider the treatment of unearned income and assets within the automatic calculation.
Options for proposed reforms are currently being considered. Any changes made to the child maintenance calculation will be subject to extensive public consultation, which we plan to publish late this year, and if made, will require amendments to legislation so would be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny.
Unearned income and assets can still be captured through the current variation process up until any changes are introduced.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that child maintenance arrears owed under previous Child Maintenance Service schemes are recovered effectively.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The main focus of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is to collect money owed to children who will benefit today, thereby preventing the build-up of arrears under CMS. Arrears owed under previous Child Support schemes are at least 12 years old. It is a key principle that unpaid child maintenance should be paid immediately.
Powers were introduced in 2018 that enabled the CMS to close the remaining cases on the Child Support Agency (CSA) following the collection or write-off of historic arrears.
Closing the CSA was a key element of the child maintenance reforms. It means that all cases are now managed on a single, more efficient and effective system.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) missed or (b) partial child maintenance payments on (i) children and (ii) resident parents.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is estimated to keep around 120,000 children out of poverty each year. CMS acknowledges the significant impact that missed or partial child maintenance payments can have on both children and resident parents.
Changes have been implemented to systems to identify at-risk cases allowing caseworkers to intervene at the earliest opportunity where a partial payment is made and before payments stop.
The CMS has taken steps to strengthen enforcement against non-resident parents who repeatedly fail to meet their child maintenance obligations. These powers allow the CMS to instruct an employer to deduct maintenance directly from the paying parent's wages, take money directly from a paying parent’s bank or building society account. If the paying parent is on certain benefits, deductions can be made at source.
CMS can also apply to the courts for a Liability Order which legally means the debt is legally recognised, allowing CMS to take further enforcement actions such as:
As part of a broader strategy, to ensure consistent financial support for children, the government is reforming the system to eliminate Direct Pay and expand the Collect and Pay service to improve compliance and reduce financial hardship for resident parents and children.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen enforcement against non-resident parents who repeatedly fail to meet their child maintenance payment obligations.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is estimated to keep around 120,000 children out of poverty each year. CMS acknowledges the significant impact that missed or partial child maintenance payments can have on both children and resident parents.
Changes have been implemented to systems to identify at-risk cases allowing caseworkers to intervene at the earliest opportunity where a partial payment is made and before payments stop.
The CMS has taken steps to strengthen enforcement against non-resident parents who repeatedly fail to meet their child maintenance obligations. These powers allow the CMS to instruct an employer to deduct maintenance directly from the paying parent's wages, take money directly from a paying parent’s bank or building society account. If the paying parent is on certain benefits, deductions can be made at source.
CMS can also apply to the courts for a Liability Order which legally means the debt is legally recognised, allowing CMS to take further enforcement actions such as:
As part of a broader strategy, to ensure consistent financial support for children, the government is reforming the system to eliminate Direct Pay and expand the Collect and Pay service to improve compliance and reduce financial hardship for resident parents and children.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the equitableness of the Child Maintenance Service's (a) fee structure and (b) case prioritisation (i) where a paying parent has multiple children across different claims and (ii) all other cases.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service operates on the principle that both parents have financial responsibility for their child, including their food and clothing, as well as contributing towards the associated costs of running the home that the child lives in.
Information about the paying parent's gross income is taken directly from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for the latest tax year available. This allows calculations to be made quickly and accurately.
The calculation can also take into account other aspects such as where care of the child is shared between the parents and any other children that the paying parent provides care.
The CMS recognises the complexity of cases where a paying parent has multiple children across different claims and is committed to ensuring that all children receive fair and timely support.
Where a paying parent has multiple children across different claims, the CMS recalculates the total maintenance liability based on the number of qualifying children across all cases, fees are based on a percentage of the total ongoing maintenance (OGM) amount, not on the number of arrangements.
The calculation can also take into account any other children outside of the statutory scheme for whom the paying parent provides support. This ensures the Child Maintenance Service fulfils its responsibility to consider the welfare of all children connected to a case.
A consultation on proposed CMS reforms was published by the previous Government on 8 May 2024. The consultation was extended by the Government at the end of July and ran until 30 September 2024. The Government published a response on 23 June 2025. This included plans to reform the CMS fee structure for the Collect and Pay Service, reducing fees to 2% for receiving parents, deducted from maintenance received, and 2% for compliant paying parents in addition to their calculated maintenance amount, while maintaining the 20% rate for non-compliant paying parents, in addition to their calculated maintenance amount.
The Government is conducting a review of the child maintenance calculation to make sure it is fit for purpose. This includes updating the underlying research and considering how to ensure the calculation reflects current and future societal trends.
Options for proposed reforms are currently being considered. Any changes made to the child maintenance calculation will be subject to extensive public consultation, and if made, will require amendments to legislation so would be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of paying parents who have (a) avoided and (b) reduced child maintenance payments through (i) advance benefit payments and (ii) other similar means.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) recognises the importance of ensuring that child maintenance payments are made fairly and consistently, and that children receive the financial support to which they are entitled.
In the Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced that from 30 April 2025, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) would reduce the Universal Credit (UC) overall deductions cap from 25% to 15% of the standard allowance, introducing the Fair Repayment Rate (FRR). Without changes, this would reduce the number of child maintenance (CM) deductions. To prevent this, DWP implemented a temporary regulatory and policy change for one year from 30 April 2025 meaning CM deductions moved to first place in UC’s deductions priority order and deductions can exceed the 15% cap ensuring CM payments continue. Evidence gathered during the year will inform whether to make the change permanent or adopt an alternative approach.
In relation to other similar means: The CMS monitors claims to ensure they are accurate and works closely with HMRC to verify income data and identify discrepancies. Where a receiving parent believes their assessment does not reflect the paying parent’s true financial position, CMS offers a variation process to challenge the assessment.
The CMS continues to refine its systems to detect and prevent avoidance, including through legislative reforms and improved data sharing.