Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service

Work and Pensions Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 18 May 2022 Closed: 31 Oct 2023 Parliament page
Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service is the third and final part of the Committee’s wider inquiry into children in poverty, following on from the Measurement and targets , and no recourse to public funds . The Committee looked into: How many children in the UK live in separated families? … Read more
16 Recommendations
15 Conclusions
1 Report
4 Oral sessions
4 Letters
4 Events
Activity timeline 14 events
6 Sep
2023
Correspondence
13 Jul
2023
Correspondence
6 Jul
2023
Report published
27 Apr
2023
Report published
23 Feb
2023
Correspondence
1 Feb
2023
Correspondence
18 Jan
2023
Oral evidence
18 Jan
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
2 Nov
2022
Oral evidence
2 Nov
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 5, Palace of Westminster
19 Oct
2022
Oral evidence
19 Oct
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 5, Palace of Westminster
Oral evidence sessions 4 sessions
18 Jan 2023
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Work and Pensions Committee
Arlene Sugden · Department for Work and Pensions Hilda Massey · Department for Work and Pensions Viscount Younger of Leckie · Department for Work and Pensions
2 Nov 2022
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Work and Pensions Committee
Joshua Reddaway · National Audit Office
19 Oct 2022
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Work and Pensions Committee
Dr Christine Davies · Royal Holloway University of London Dr Jon Symonds · University of Bristol Dr Mia Hakovirta · Turku University, Finland Professor Esther Dermott · University of Bristol
7 Sep 2022
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Work and Pensions Committee
Caitlin Logan · One Parent Families Scotland Cristina Odone · Centre for Social Justice Meghan Meek-O’Connor · Save the Children Michael Lewkowicz · Families Need Fathers Victoria Benson · Gingerbread
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Sixth Report - Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service HC 272 27 Apr 2023 31 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
15 results
Clear
1 Conclusion Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
Committee welcomes new Child Support Bills for domestic abuse and enforcement improvements
We welcome the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Bill and the Child Support (Enforcement) Bill and their aims. We provide information later in this Report on how these pieces of legislation will help improve the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance … Read more
Government Response
The government shares the Committee's view on effective enforcement and states that DWP has already made substantial improvements to the CMS enforcement process, aiming to maximize efficiency and effectiveness on a case-by-case basis.
Department for Work and Pensions
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2 Conclusion Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
Require Department to proactively monitor and regularly report on Direct Pay arrangement effectiveness
One of the purposes of the reforms introducing the Child Maintenance Service was to increase the number of effective arrangements between parents. There is a paucity of data on how many Direct Pay arrangements are effective, which in turn obscures … Read more
Government Response
The government highlights that DWP has conducted two large-scale research projects (in 2016 and 2022) on Direct Pay effectiveness, showing high payment rates for enduring arrangements. It also notes that CMS sends SMS messages at three months and annually to remind parents to report issues, and parents can switch to Collect & Pay. The government commits to *considering* further research to support any future policy reforms.
Department for Work and Pensions
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3 Conclusion Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
Systematically and swiftly move ineffective Direct Pay cases into Collect and Pay
Cases moving from Direct Pay to Collect and Pay appear to have substantial arrears on average. The Department should more systematically and swiftly move ineffective Direct Pay cases into Collect and Pay. To do this, the Department should consider imposing … Read more
Government Response
The government stated it has already introduced dedicated teams to swift action requests for change to Collect and Pay and allows 24/7 reporting of missed payments. It is also embarking on a Modernisation Programme to separate the administration of direct pay and collect and pay cases and improve communications to parents on reporting ineffective arrangements.
Department for Work and Pensions
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4 Recommendation Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
Require Government to set out plans improving effectiveness and speed of child maintenance enforcement
For many receiving parents child maintenance payments are vital to avoiding or at least stymying the effects of hardship but enforcement is currently slow and often ineffective. We have heard that, while enforcement on Collect and Pay has improved, for … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledged the need for effective enforcement and stated it has already improved enforcement processes, including virtual court presenting. It highlights ongoing legislative changes via the Child Support (Enforcement) Private Members Bill, which, if passed, will remove the requirement for court-issued liability orders and introduce administrative orders to substantially speed up enforcement.
Department for Work and Pensions
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7 Conclusion Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
Assign specialist caseworkers to complex self-employment and non-earned income child maintenance cases.
Cases are complex where the paying parent’s income is from self-employment or non- earned income. To ensure that a fair arrangement is reached for both receiving and paying parents in these circumstances, a specialist caseworker should be assigned to such … Read more
Government Response
The government stated that complex earnings (like unearned income) are currently handled through caseworker intervention or referred to a specialist financial investigation unit. It is planning to include unearned income in the initial calculation using HMRC data, which aims to automate and safeguard against misstatement, thereby improving the process of identifying income sources.
Department for Work and Pensions
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14 Recommendation Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
Conduct research on parents lacking wanted maintenance arrangements and plan proactive family support.
Research like the Government’s 2022 separated families survey helps form a useful evidence base for effective policy formation. Research on why parents do not have maintenance arrangements but want one would be valuable. We recommend that the Government conduct further … Read more
Government Response
The government stated it continues to monitor separated families and is undertaking initiatives to increase CMS awareness. It is training staff in jobcentres and Universal Credit to signpost parents to the "Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance" service for support. It will consider further research on reasons for not having arrangements as part of any future policy reforms.
Department for Work and Pensions
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18 Recommendation Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
Child welfare and poverty implications must be prioritised in maintenance payment calculations.
The Department’s work on maintenance calculations should prioritise the interests and welfare of the impacted children. In particular the potential implications of changes to maintenance levels on the number of children in poverty must be carefully considered and the implications … Read more
Government Response
The government commits to a fundamental review of the child maintenance calculation, including updating research on children's costs, assessing the scope for including both parental incomes, and exploring legislative changes, aligning with the call to prioritise children's welfare.
Department for Work and Pensions
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19 Recommendation Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
Require Department to consider income-share model for child maintenance after affordability work.
We have heard that the current child maintenance system incentivises parental conflict under a “winner takes all system” and there appear to be strong arguments in favour of reform away from such a system. However, reform towards an alternative model, … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation to consider an income-share model, stating it has begun a fundamental review of the child maintenance calculation to update research and ensure it reflects today’s social trends, which will include assessing the scope to incorporate both parental incomes. Any necessary changes would require primary legislation and will be explored at the earliest opportunity.
Department for Work and Pensions
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20 Conclusion Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
CMS guidance on 50/50 shared care and child benefit use is inadequate.
The CMS should ensure its guidance is clear on situations of 50/50 day-to-day care and that, where court orders are made under the expectation of care being equally split, no maintenance is deemed to be due. The use of child … Read more
Government Response
The government committed to reviewing CMS caseworker guidance on 50/50 day-to-day care to ensure accurate decisions using all available evidence, including court orders. However, it disagreed that child benefit is a blunt tool for determining the receiving parent, defending its use as a good indicator due to its alignment with the CMS's day-to-day care policy.
Department for Work and Pensions
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22 Conclusion Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
CMS strategy for poorly evidenced CSA-inherited arrears requires clarification and investigation.
We are concerned about the prospect that the Child Maintenance Service is pursuing arrears inherited from the Child Support Agency that cannot be properly evidenced, although we acknowledge not collecting such arrears would impact the relevant receiving parent. We request … Read more
Government Response
The government states it has already addressed historic CSA arrears through an 'arrears cleanse' process, allowing parents to make representations and disputing debt. Uncollectable debt can then be considered for write-off through existing procedures.
Department for Work and Pensions
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23 Conclusion Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
CMS correspondence on arrears accrual lacks clarity, undermining paying parents' confidence.
We have received evidence critical of the correspondence provided by the Child Maintenance Service. For example, paying parents reported asking for details on how substantial arrears had accrued and receiving no effective information in response. This risks exacerbating hostility by … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges issues with historic CSA arrears and states it previously addressed these by closing old cases and conducting a 'case cleanse' process to stabilize debt balances. Both parents were given outstanding debt information and an opportunity to dispute it before collections began.
Department for Work and Pensions
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26 Conclusion Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
Strong support for named caseworkers to improve CMS customer service outcomes
We strongly support the Child Maintenance Service’s plans to move to having a named caseworker, initially for customers in abusive situations before eventually being rolled out to all customers. The experience of having to recount one’s story multiple times was … Read more
Government Response
The government has commenced a pilot program providing a single named caseworker for complex domestic abuse cases, accepting recommendations from an independent review. Findings from this pilot will inform future decisions regarding a wider rollout as part of CMS's Modernisation programme.
Department for Work and Pensions
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27 Recommendation Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
Publish annual customer service data from CMS to demonstrate improvements publicly
We have heard that perceptions of the levels of customer service of the CMS continue to be poor for both paying and receiving parents. The Department should develop its management information to allow it to demonstrate it is delivering good … Read more
Government Response
The government states it is focused on improving customer experience with a new Customer Experience Strategy and ongoing modernisation. It notes that the 2020/21 Customer Experience Survey annual report was published in May 2023 and that it reviews its CES reports annually, implying existing public reporting.
Department for Work and Pensions
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29 Recommendation Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
Trial different CMS helpline opening hours, including weekends, to improve accessibility
The current opening hours of the CMS helpline were criticised in our roundtable discussions, particularly from parents who had work commitments. We recommend the Government trial different opening hours for the CMS, to include weekends. This could be achieved by … Read more
Government Response
The government states that CMS opening hours are regularly reviewed based on demand and that they have recently extended telephony service to 6pm on weekdays. However, it does not commit to trialling weekend opening hours as recommended.
Department for Work and Pensions
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30 Conclusion Accepted
Sixth Report - Children in poverty…
CMS customer contact methods via letters or telephone remain slow and antiquated
Customers only being able to contact the CMS via letters or telephone is slow and antiquated. The CMS should introduce an electronic messaging system, or at least an ability for customers to contact them by e-mail to provide greater levels … Read more
Government Response
The government states that CMS has already significantly improved communication channels by introducing digital services as the preferred contact method, allowing customers to update information and request changes 24/7. This implies an existing electronic system.
Department for Work and Pensions
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Government Response AI assessment · 31 of 16 classified
Accepted 15
Accepted in Part 1
Acknowledged 7
Deferred 3
Not Addressed 1
Rejected 4
Total 16 recs + 15 conclusions
Correspondence 4 letters
6 Sep 2023 Correspondence with the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State relating to Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service
Parliament page
13 Jul 2023 Correspondence with Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State relating to Children in Poverty: Child Maintenance Service Report
Parliament page
23 Feb 2023 Correspondence with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State relating to Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service
Parliament page
1 Feb 2023 Correspondence with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State about the Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service inquiry
Parliament page