Child Maintenance

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 12 Jan 2022 Closed: 14 Oct 2022 Parliament page
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) - set up in 2012 to replace the previous Child Support Agency - is for separated families who have not been able to reach a private arrangement about how their children’s living costs will be paid. The Department for Work and Pensions estimates that £934 … Read more
29 Recommendations
7 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
1 Event
Activity timeline 4 events
22 Jun
2022
16 Mar
2022
Oral evidence
16 Mar
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
Child Maintenance
Arlene Sugden · Department for Work and Pensions Hilda Massey · Department for Work and Pensions Peter Schofield · Department for Work and Pensions
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Ninth Report - Child Maintenance HC 255 22 Jun 2022 36 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
2 results
7 Recommendation Deferred
Ninth Report - Child Maintenance
The Department’s ability to collect child maintenance is limited by the affordability of payments and...
The Department’s ability to collect child maintenance is limited by the affordability of payments and the system risks creating a poverty trap for some Paying Parents. More than two-thirds of Paying Parents on Collect & Pay and over a quarter … Read more
Government Response
The department cannot set out its plans to review affordability of liabilities as this relies upon a policy decision, but the department is considering its plans and will update the Work and Pensions Committee in due course.
HM Treasury
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28 Recommendation Deferred
Ninth Report - Child Maintenance
We therefore asked the Department about the affordability of payments.
We therefore asked the Department about the affordability of payments. The Department explained that its calculations were based on historical income, so “affordability is part of the calculation in that respect”. But it recognised that “the problem then comes when … Read more
Government Response
The government disagrees with the recommendation because they cannot set out plans to review affordability in the response, as it relies on a policy decision, but they are considering plans and will update the Work and Pensions Committee in due course.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 30 of 29 classified

Total 29 recs + 7 conclusions