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731792

registered interest
date	22/06/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) how many and (b) what level of fines have been levied against husbands or partners who avoided paying child maintenance in each year since the introduction of the Child Support Act 1991; and what other sanctions have been imposed on people in that period.
tabling member constituency	Makerfield
tabling member printed	Yvonne Fovargue
uin	708
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2017 answer text <p>The only fines that can be imposed relating to child maintenance are as a result of criminal prosecution for failure to provide information or providing false information for the purposes of calculating the child maintenance liability. These fines are imposed by a court, information about fines is not recorded by my Department for management information purposes, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Within child maintenance enforcement, “sanctions” generally refers to powers used as a last resort, when other enforcement actions have not resulted in successful collection of arrears.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>DWP publish information on enforcement actions.</p><p> </p><p>Information on both civil and criminal enforcement actions undertaken by the Child Support Agency (CSA) is only available from April 2007. This can be found in Table 22 of the latest CSA Quarterly Summary of Statistics, available at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-march-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-march-2017</a> . This includes information on a variety of enforcement actions, including commitment to prison and disqualification from driving (in the Committals section), along with information on the number of prosecutions that have been undertaken.</p><p> </p><p>Information on civil and criminal enforcement action undertaken by the Child Maintenance Service is published on Table 16 of the Child Maintenance Service Experimental Statistics, which contains data between September 2015 and March 2017. The publication can be accessed online at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme-aug-2013-to-mar-2017-experimental" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme-aug-2013-to-mar-2017-experimental</a> . These statistics do not include detail on the different types of enforcement action, so do not include the number of sanction actions taken.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 27/06/2017 09:55:29 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4034 label Biography information for Yvonne Fovargue

720849

registered interest
date	13/04/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new applications have been lodged with the Child Maintenance Service in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	70297
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2017 answer text <p>Information on the number of new 2012 applications that have been lodged with the Child Maintenance Service are published on Table 1 of the Child Maintenance Service Experimental Statistics, which contains data up until November 2016.The Publication can be accessed online at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme-aug-2013-to-nov-2016-experimental" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme-aug-2013-to-nov-2016-experimental</a></p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 20/04/2017 14:25:00 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

720850

registered interest
date	13/04/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is his Department's policy to assign one caseworker to each individual case at the (a) Child Maintenance Service and (b) Child Support Agency.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	70298
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2017 answer text <p>Both CMS and CSA cases are assigned to an individual caseworker in the relevant case owning department within the business as and when action is required on the case. Over time cases move throughout the department depending on what action is required. When a case moves it is then allocated to a caseworker in the relevant part of the business to action accordingly.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 20/04/2017 14:21:06 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

710917

registered interest
date	14/03/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) prosecutions for misrepresentation and (b) referrals to HM Revenue and Customs for tax and fraud have occurred in connection with Child Maintenance Support cases since the specialist Financial Investigation Unit was introduced into the 2012 child maintenance scheme.
tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
uin	67807
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2017 answer text <p>As at March 2017 we have not yet completed prosecution action on any Child Maintenance Service (CMS) cases for misrepresentation, however there are 678 cases where we have taken formal investigative action to confirm representations of income. Of these we have conducted 10 interviews under caution with a further 25 scheduled, some of which may result in prosecution. Since the Financial Investigation Unit was introduced to the CMS there have been 38 referrals to HM Revenue and Customs where we believe there to be evidence of fraud.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 20/03/2017 14:42:05 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

711109

registered interest
date	14/03/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans for the referral process by which Child Maintenance Service (CMS) caseworkers can refer new CMS cases and complaints cases to the Financial Investigation Unit to be extended to cover all child maintenance cases.
tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
uin	67802
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2017 answer text <p>The full rollout of this process to all Child Maintenance Service teams is on track to complete by June 2017 and at that stage will cover all stages of the Child Maintenance lifecycle, from Applications through to Enforcement.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 20/03/2017 14:38:47 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

711112

registered interest
date	14/03/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department's evaluation of the work of the Financial Investigation Unit in dealing with child maintenance cases within the New Case and Complaints areas of the Child Maintenance Service has been completed.
tabling member constituency	Oldham East and Saddleworth
tabling member printed	Debbie Abrahams
uin	67801
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2017 answer text <p>The pilot is on course to complete in the Spring. We are currently reviewing the empirical evidence to determine how this can best be shared publicly however we have already decided to rollout the process to all teams within the Child Maintenance Service.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 20/03/2017 14:17:09 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4212 label Biography information for Debbie Abrahams

706829

registered interest
date	01/03/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his Answer of 14 November 2016 to Question 51999, how many referrals of those defaulting on their child maintenance liabilities have been made to credit reference agencies since March 2015.
tabling member constituency	Westminster North
tabling member printed	Ms Karen Buck
uin	66223
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2017 answer text <p>The Department remains committed to the policy of referring those defaulting on their child maintenance payments to credit reference agencies.</p><p> </p><p>Following the change in legislation in March 2015, we have been working with the credit reference agencies to put in place a process to share liability order information. In January 2017 we successfully signed a contract with Experian (one of the three main credit reference agencies) and are now working with them to develop a plan that will enable us to share information. Design work has commenced and a full delivery plan will be in place by mid-March 2017. To date no liability order information has been shared, but it continues to be the Department’s intention to do so as soon as possible.</p><p> </p><p>As at 2nd March 2017 there are a total of 1,522 cases prepared and ready to share with credit reference agencies. We plan to disclose this information with credit reference agencies once a process, with the appropriate controls and safeguards, is in place. In the interim we continue to issue warning letters to prompt action by non-resident parents to settle their arrears, and will where appropriate consider other enforcement actions on these cases.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 06/03/2017 15:55:28 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	199 label Biography information for Ms Karen Buck

682436

registered interest
date	31/01/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to publish the conclusions of the review carried out under section 141 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 on the effect of child maintenance charges; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	62417
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2017 answer text <p>The Department published the research and statistics that formed the Review in 2016. The Review Report, which will draw together the findings from the published research and statistics, will be published in Spring this year.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 03/02/2017 11:01:55 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

678737

registered interest
date	25/01/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total amount in maintenance arrears of non-resident parents is under the (a) Child Support Agency and (b) Child Maintenance Service.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	61576
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/01/2017 answer text <p>The total amount in maintenance arrears of non-resident parents under the Child Support Agency was £3,475.8m as of September 2016. This is published in table 15 of the CSA Quarterly Summary of Statistics for Great Britain, which can be found online at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-september-2016" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-september-2016</a></p><p> </p><p>The total amount in maintenance arrears of non-resident parents on the Child Maintenance Service was £92.8m as of November 2016. This is published in Table 8 of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) Experimental Statistics, which can be found online at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme-aug-2013-to-nov-2016-experimental" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme-aug-2013-to-nov-2016-experimental</a></p><p> </p><p>Additionally, up until the end of September 2016, Child Support Agency arrears totaling £352.7m had been transferred to the Child Maintenance Service system.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 30/01/2017 16:12:09 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

674373

registered interest
date	17/01/2017
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Child Maintenance Service takes account of a person's lifestyle as well as income in determining liabilities for paying maintenance.
tabling member constituency	Twickenham
tabling member printed	Dr Tania Mathias
uin	60320
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2017 answer text <p>The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) does not take into account a person’s “lifestyle” in calculating a maintenance liability.</p><p> </p><p>The CMS has access to income information held by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), allowing us to capture a much wider range of income types received by Paying Parents. The definition of income within the 2012 scheme includes almost all additional sources of gross income captured by self-assessment. We refer to this as “unearned income” and it includes incomes from property, savings and investments (including dividends) and other miscellaneous incomes.</p><p> </p><p>This provides a more effective route to taking these kinds of income into account than the “lifestyle” ground which existed for the previous schemes of maintenance.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 20/01/2017 10:36:32 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4404 label Biography information for Dr Tania Mathias