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Written Question
Child Maintenance Service
Tuesday 17th September 2024

Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to reform child maintenance services by (a) abolishing fees for survivors of violence against women and girls and (b) implementing robust enforcement measures for non-paying parents.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

A consultation on proposed reforms to the CMS was published by the previous Government on 8 May 2024. This included removing Direct Pay and changing the charging structure, with all CMS cases managed in one service to allow the CMS to tackle non-compliance faster. The consultation also explores how victims and survivors of domestic abuse can be better supported.

This Government has extended the consultation to the 30 September 2024 to ensure full stakeholder engagement can take place. We will then consider the next steps for CMS.


Written Question
Child Maintenance Service: Domestic Abuse
Tuesday 17th September 2024

Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)

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 effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service in protecting victims of domestic abuse when using their service.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department is assessing how it can provide statistics on domestic abuse now the application fee exemption statistics are no longer published. The Department's Chief Statistician will oversee the development of these statistics to make sure they meet the Code of Practice for Statistics.

The Department takes the issue of domestic abuse extremely seriously and the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) offers an accessible, safe, and secure service for all parents. All CMS caseworkers receive training on how to identify the different types of abuse, including financial abuse and how they can appropriately support and signpost victims and survivors.

The CMS reviews its domestic abuse training regularly to ensure caseworkers are equipped to support parents in vulnerable situations and the Department will continue to meet stakeholders regularly to maintain an open dialogue on how to improve the service.

There are several secure ways to receive maintenance directly without having to divulge sensitive personal details, including for victims of domestic abuse and other vulnerable parents. The CMS can help arrange for payments to be made to bank accounts that cannot be traced to a physical location which helps to protect the parent’s location. The CMS does not put parents directly in touch with each other, nor does it share their current location via correspondence.

A consultation on proposed reforms to the CMS was published by the previous Government on 8 May 2024. This included removing Direct Pay and managing all CMS cases in one service to allow the CMS to tackle non-compliance faster and explore how victims and survivors of domestic abuse can be better supported. This follows the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act receiving royal assent in July 2023.

The consultation has been extended to the 30 September 2024 to ensure full stakeholder engagement can take place.


Written Question
Child Maintenance Service: Domestic Abuse
Tuesday 17th September 2024

Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of victims of domestic abuse experiencing financial abuse while using the Child Maintenance Service.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department is assessing how it can provide statistics on domestic abuse now the application fee exemption statistics are no longer published. The Department's Chief Statistician will oversee the development of these statistics to make sure they meet the Code of Practice for Statistics.

The Department takes the issue of domestic abuse extremely seriously and the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) offers an accessible, safe, and secure service for all parents. All CMS caseworkers receive training on how to identify the different types of abuse, including financial abuse and how they can appropriately support and signpost victims and survivors.

The CMS reviews its domestic abuse training regularly to ensure caseworkers are equipped to support parents in vulnerable situations and the Department will continue to meet stakeholders regularly to maintain an open dialogue on how to improve the service.

There are several secure ways to receive maintenance directly without having to divulge sensitive personal details, including for victims of domestic abuse and other vulnerable parents. The CMS can help arrange for payments to be made to bank accounts that cannot be traced to a physical location which helps to protect the parent’s location. The CMS does not put parents directly in touch with each other, nor does it share their current location via correspondence.

A consultation on proposed reforms to the CMS was published by the previous Government on 8 May 2024. This included removing Direct Pay and managing all CMS cases in one service to allow the CMS to tackle non-compliance faster and explore how victims and survivors of domestic abuse can be better supported. This follows the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act receiving royal assent in July 2023.

The consultation has been extended to the 30 September 2024 to ensure full stakeholder engagement can take place.


Written Question
Children: Maintenance
Tuesday 17th September 2024

Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims were processed by the Child Maintenance Agency in each of the last five years; and how many appeals were (a) lodged, (b) fully processed, (c) upheld and (d) rejected.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

A principle of child maintenance is to increase levels of cooperation between separated parents and encourage parents to meet their responsibilities to provide their children with financial support.

Where a family-based child maintenance arrangement is not suitable the Child Maintenance Service offers a statutory scheme for those parents who need it.

When a parent joins the statutory scheme Child Maintenance Service will do everything within its powers to ensure parents comply and meet their obligations to children.

In the 12 months up to March 2024 there were 131,300 claims to the child maintenance statutory scheme (rounded to the nearest 100) and the child maintenance service arranged £1.4 billion child maintenance through the statutory scheme, an increase from £1.2 billion during the previous 12 months.

CMS are wholly committed to delivering the best possible service to all customers within our growing caseload. When a Parent or their representative disagrees with a decision about a child maintenance calculation, they have the right to appeal. Before they do this, they must first ask for a Mandatory Reconsideration.

If the Child Maintenance Service decides not to change its decision the parent can follow the formal appeal process, handled by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) where an independent tribunal will look at the Child Maintenance Service’s decision.

The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) and the latest statistics are available up to March 2024.

Table 3 from the latest National tables contains the number of arrangements joining the Child Maintenance Service each quarter from January 2015 to March 2024. Table 11 contains information on the number of appeals made by parents to His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service to review a decision made by the Child Maintenance Service each quarter from April 2015 to March 2024.

Excerpts for the last five years for both tables are shown below.

Table 3: Intake, Great Britain, April 2019 to March 2024

Quarter of Application

Intake
[note 1]

Apr to Jun 2019

22,300

Jul to Sep 2019

22,100

Oct to Dec 2019

17,200

Jan to Mar 2020

20,300

Apr to Jun 2020 [note 2]

13,100

Jul to Sep 2020

21,800

Oct to Dec 2020

17,600

Jan to Mar 2021

18,400

Apr to Jun 2021

19,700

Jul to Sep 2021

21,300

Oct to Dec 2021

19,500

Jan to Mar 2022

26,900

Apr to Jun 2022

32,000

Jul to Sep 2022

33,600

Oct to Dec 2022

27,200

Jan to Mar 2023

32,400

Apr to Jun 2023

32,400

Jul to Sep 2023

34,700

Oct to Dec 2023

28,600

Jan to Mar 2024

35,600

Source: Child Maintenance Service Management Information

Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

Note Number

Note Text

note 1

Intake includes new arrangements as well as arrangements where the parent has closed an existing arrangement and then decided to re-open it at a later date.

note 2

During the quarter ending June 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak may have reduced the demand for new Child Service Maintenance arrangements.

Table 11: Appeals, Great Britain, April 2019 to March 2024

Quarter

Appeals Received

CMS Outcome: Withdrawn

CMS Outcome:

Tribunal Service Outcome:

Tribunal Service Outcome:

Total Clearances

[note 1]

[note 2]

Revised [note 3]

Upheld [note 4]

Dismissed [note 5]

[note 6]

Apr to Jun 2019

965

15

240

235

350

845

Jul to Sep 2019

965

20

165

225

385

795

Oct to Dec 2019

1,000

20

185

225

375

805

Jan to Mar 2020

1,105

15

195

225

385

820

Apr to Jun 2020

465

10

85

90

140

325

Jul to Sep 2020

1,030

20

125

120

210

470

Oct to Dec 2020

1,040

10

205

220

365

805

Jan to Mar 2021

980

5

175

240

445

865

Apr to Jun 2021

1,045

5

145

400

880

1,430

Jul to Sep 2021

1,120

10

155

315

365

850

Oct to Dec 2021

1,350

15

195

265

350

830

Jan to Mar 2022

735

20

255

330

455

1,060

Apr to Jun 2022

965

25

260

280

420

985

Jul to Sep 2022

895

35

250

360

490

1,135

Oct to Dec 2022

865

35

240

380

505

1,160

Jan to Mar 2023

1,110

10

100

295

345

745

Apr to Jun 2023

1,325

0

0

200

215

415

Jul to Sep 2023

1,085

20

220

200

180

620

Oct to Dec 2023

1,155

25

200

290

290

805

Jan to Mar 2024

1,030

10

225

310

220

770

Source: Child Maintenance Service Management Information

Figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

Note number

Note Text

note 1

Parents can appeal a decision by the Child Maintenance Service on payment amounts with the Tribunal Service which is impartial and independent of Government. Before they do this, they must ask the Child Maintenance Service to review and reconsider their decision (known as a Mandatory Reconsideration).

note 2

Where the parent decides that they no longer want to appeal the decision and withdraw the appeal.

note 3

Where the Child Maintenance Service finds the original decision to be incorrect, or the parent has supplied more information which changes the decision.

note 4

Where His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service overturns the decision made by the Child Maintenance Service and supports the parent's appeal. This includes appeals where the appellant provides additional evidence to the court.

note 5

Where the courts dismiss the appeal made by the parent and support the decision made by the Child Maintenance Service.

note 6

The sum of the Child Maintenance Service appeals withdrawn and revised in addition to the Tribunal Service appeals dismissed and upheld.


Written Question
Children: Maintenance
Friday 13th September 2024

Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many parents are (a) making child maintenance payments through the Child Maintenance Service and (b) in arrears on those payments.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The principle of the Child Maintenance Service is to increase levels of cooperation between separated parents and encourage parents to meet their responsibilities to provide financial support for their children through their own family-based arrangements where possible. Where a family-based child maintenance arrangement is not suitable we offer a statutory scheme to those parents who need it.

The Government is dedicated to ensuring parents meet their obligations to children and the Child Maintenance Service will do everything within its powers to make sure parents comply. Where parents fail to pay their child maintenance, the Service will not hesitate to use its enforcement powers, including deductions from earnings orders, removal of driving licences, disqualification from holding a passport, and committal to prison. The Service is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families.

The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service and the latest statistics are available up to March 2024. The number of Paying Parents using the Collect and Pay service are published on Stat-Xplore in the CMS Paying Parents dataset.

In the latest quarter ending on 31 March 2024, there were 188,945 parents due to pay through the Collect and Pay service. Information on the full arrears status of those parents is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Child Maintenance Service: Complaints
Wednesday 11th September 2024

Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints about the Child Maintenance Service were investigated by the Independent Case Examiner (a) overall, (b) by the receiving parent and (c) by the paying parent in each of the last five years.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Independent Case Examiner’s office investigated 2,142 Child Maintenance Service (CMS) cases over the last 5 complete reporting years, broken down as follows:

Reporting Year

CMS Investigations

2019/20

188

2020/21

267

2021/22

396

2022/23

507

2023/24

784

The Independent Case Examiner’s office does not hold the information to provide a response to parts (b) and (c) of the question.


Written Question
Children: Maintenance
Wednesday 11th September 2024

Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help ensure that the CMS child maintenance calculation adequately reflects the (a) living expenses and (b) income of both parties.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) 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.

The calculation represents an amount of money that is broadly commensurate with the amount that a paying parent would spend on the child if they were still living with them, irrespective of the income or assets of the receiving parent.

The CMS will assess how much the paying parent should pay the receiving parent, which in most cases is based on a percentage of the paying parent's gross annual income. The income of the receiving parent is not taken into consideration as they are already contributing as the child's primary caregiver and their income should not remove the responsibility of a paying parent to support their child.

A review is ongoing to look again at the child maintenance calculation to ensure it is fit for purpose and fair for both parents in light of societal changes since it was last looked at.


Written Question
Children: Maintenance
Wednesday 11th September 2024

Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure the accuracy of the (a) systems and (b) IT used by the Child Maintenance Service.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Regular updates ensure the Child Maintenance Service's systems comply with policy. Each change follows industry standards, including thorough testing before and after implementation. The core principles for calculating Child Maintenance have remained largely unchanged since 2012, with no current system defects affecting these calculations.

The Department for Work and Pensions rigorously monitors accuracy, with the National Audit Office setting a target of monetary value errors under 1%. This standard is consistently met.


Written Question
Child Maintenance Service: Telephone Services
Monday 9th September 2024

Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to reduce call waiting times to the Child Maintenance Service; and if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of call handling times by that service.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

CMS are committed to delivering the best possible service to all customers within our growing caseload, though fully recognise that call waiting times are sometimes longer than we would like.

To address this, we are working to improve the efficiency of our customer interactions through both the telephone and Digital channels, and by promoting self-service online. These are freeing up CMS resource to support customers that need to contact us by telephone.

The class leading CMS online service supports customers in understanding options around child maintenance arrangements through to completing applications and the ability to manage their case online. These services are available 24/7, and in July 2024 over 1 million customers were logging on to their online My Child Maintenance Case account and using them. To improve the efficiency of the service, improvements have been made to process simple actions automatically, whilst also improving training and guidance for CMS colleagues.

As a result, call volumes are reducing, and improved customer service being delivered through the combination of Online and Telephone channels.

CMS is working to improve all forms of communication with customers, including greater use of SMS and email as well as improving letter content.

The Department continually seeks to review, evaluate, and enhance tools and training material to support staff in delivering a quality customer service and takes timely action to further train and support staff where further improvements can be made. Additionally, CMS have extended their telephony service to 6pm on weekdays to meet demand.


Written Question
Children: Maintenance
Monday 9th September 2024

Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many liability orders have been pursued by the Child Maintenance Service since 1 August 2023.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

A principle of child maintenance is to increase levels of cooperation between separated parents and encourage parents to meet their responsibilities to provide their children with financial support. Where a family-based child maintenance arrangement is not suitable the Child Maintenance Service offers a statutory scheme for those parents who need it.

The Government is dedicated to ensuring parents meet their obligations to children and the Child Maintenance Service will do everything within its powers to make sure parents comply. Where parents fail to pay their child maintenance, the Service will not hesitate to use its enforcement which includes liability orders. The Service is committed to using these powers fairly and in the best interests of children and separated families.

The Department plans to bring forward changes to allow Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to make an administrative liability order against a person who has failed to pay child maintenance and is in arrears. The administrative liability order will replace the current requirement for the CMS to apply to the court for a liability order, which can take up to 22 weeks. We expect the new liability order process to take around six to eight weeks, meaning CMS can use its strong enforcement powers more quickly for those who seek to avoid their financial obligations to their children.

We will bring forward the legislation as soon as possible.

The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service and the latest statistics are available up to March 2024. The next release to June 2024 is scheduled for Tuesday 24th September 2024 at 09:30am.

The statistics for liability orders are shown in Table 7.1 of the National tables. The relevant data taken from that table, covering the period requested, is shown in the following table:

Liability Orders in process and money collected in Great Britain, and Liability Orders applied for and granted in England and Wales, July 2023 to March 2024

Jul to Sep 23

Oct to Dec 23

Jan to Mar 24

Liability Orders in process at end of quarter

7,500

6,400

6,200

Liability Orders applied for during quarter (excludes Scotland)

4,100

4,500

5,300

Liability Orders granted during quarter (excludes Scotland)

3,600

3,900

4,400

Liability Orders withdrawn or dismissed during quarter (excludes Scotland)

300

300

400

Money collected during quarter from Paying Parents with a Liability Order in process (£ millions)

2.4

2.1

2.1

Source: Child Maintenance Service Administrative and Clerical Data

Notes:

  1. This table includes actions taken to collect both maintenance arranged by the Child Maintenance Service, and Child Support Agency arrears that have been transitioned to Child Maintenance Service systems. This may include actions taken against parents for whom no ongoing maintenance has been arranged under the Child Maintenance Service.

  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 or £100,000.

  1. "In Process" counts give the number of Paying Parents for which the relevant enforcement action was ongoing at the end of the quarter. "Ongoing" includes the period in which the action was being formally considered, in addition to the period during which the action was actively being progressed.

  1. A Paying Parent can be taken to court over unpaid child maintenance. Courts can grant a Liability Order, which is a legal recognition that a debt is owed. This enables recovery of the debt through further Civil Enforcement Actions, e.g. referral to an enforcement agency.

  1. Some Liability Order figures are restricted to England and Wales and exclude Scotland, this is indicated in the row title where relevant.