Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1697418

registered interest
date	20/03/2024
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 steps his Department is taking to reduce call waiting times to the child maintenance service; and whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of call handling times by that service.
tabling member constituency	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
tabling member printed	Drew Hendry
uin	19632
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2024 answer text <p>As part of its Modernisation Programme, CMS continues to improve how it communicates with customers and how customers access its service. When a customer first applies for CMS they are enrolled on the online service which provides them the ability to update their information and request changes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The majority of our customers make use of these online services to effectively meet their needs every day, though we are actively engaged in improving the service further and increasing customer take up.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise some customers need alternative methods to contact us or choose to call us, and on occasion call wait times on our inbound phone lines can be longer than we would like. Speed to answer is continually reviewed throughout the working day and operational resource is regularly reviewed and flexed to minimise excessive wait times.</p><p> </p><p>Over the coming year we will increase customer education on what can be raised and progressed using our online services and encourage more customers to make use of this as the primary channel for their CMS enquiries. This will help protect our inbound phones lines for our customers that need to access our service in this way and reduce the wait time they experience.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 25/03/2024 16:48:16 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4467 label Biography information for Drew Hendry

1691593

registered interest
date	26/02/2024
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 he plans to commence section 25 of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008.
tabling member constituency	Suffolk Coastal
tabling member printed	Dr Thérèse Coffey
uin	15621
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2024 answer text <p>The Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023, it amended section 32M of the Child Support Act 1991 as inserted by section 25 of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008.</p><p> </p><p>When commenced it will streamline enforcement processes by removing the requirement to obtain a court issued liability order and enable the Secretary of State to issue an administrative liability order. This will reduce the process from 22 weeks to as low as 6 weeks, making it quicker to get money to children.</p><p> </p><p>A public consultation to seek views on proposed regulations to be introduced for administrative liability orders concluded in November 2023, and the Government response was published on 12 February 2024. Legislation will be brought forward as soon as possible.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 29/02/2024 14:02:14 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey

1690539

registered interest
date	20/02/2024
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 respond to the consultation entitled Child Maintenance: Improving our enforcement powers through the commencement of curfew orders, published on 9 July 2022.
tabling member constituency	Suffolk Coastal
tabling member printed	Dr Thérèse Coffey
uin	14859
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2024 answer text <p>The Child Maintenance “Improving our Enforcement powers through the commencement of Curfew orders” consultation concluded on 12 August 2022. Several enforcement initiatives aimed at improving compliance are currently in train and we are considering our strongest enforcement powers more broadly and will consider the next steps and how curfews fit in as part of this.</p><p> </p><p>The Child Maintenance Service already has a suite of strong enforcement powers at its disposal. These include, using Enforcement Agents (previously known as bailiffs) to take control of goods, forcing the sale of property, removal of driving licence or UK passport, deductions directly from earnings and bank accounts or even commitment to prison.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 23/02/2024 14:35:47 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey

1687608

registered interest
date	05/02/2024
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 his planned timetable is to respond to his Department's consultation entitled Child Maintenance: Accelerating Enforcement.
tabling member constituency	Cynon Valley
tabling member printed	Beth Winter
uin	13173
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/02/2024 answer text <p>The Child Maintenance “Accelerating Enforcement” consultation concluded on 24 November 2023, the Government is carefully considering the feedback and a response will be published shortly.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 09/02/2024 11:07:12 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4809 label Biography information for Beth Winter

1685097

registered interest
date	25/01/2024
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, with reference to the Government's consultation entitled Child Maintenance: Improving our enforcement powers through the commencement of curfew orders, published on 9 July 2022, what his Department's planned timetable is for laying the commencement order relating to curfew orders.
tabling member constituency	Suffolk Coastal
tabling member printed	Dr Thérèse Coffey
uin	11495
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/01/2024 answer text <p>The Child Maintenance Service already has a suite of strong enforcement powers at its disposal. These include, using Enforcement Agents (previously known as bailiffs) to take control of goods, forcing the sale of property, removal of driving licence or UK passport, deductions directly from earnings and bank accounts or even commitment to prison. We have explored how Curfews could be implemented as an additional enforcement measure to improve compliance. Several enforcement initiatives aimed at improving compliance are currently in train and we need to get those in place and assess their effects before we can best see how curfews might fit with them. We are continuing to keep their introduction under review.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 30/01/2024 17:21:36 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey

1685098

registered interest
date	25/01/2024
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 much child maintenance has (a) been recovered and paid to the receiving parent and (b) not been paid in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Suffolk Coastal
tabling member printed	Dr Thérèse Coffey
uin	11496
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/02/2024 answer text <p>The Department publishes <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme" target="_blank">quarterly statistics</a> for the Child Maintenance Service and the latest statistics are available up to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-statistics-data-to-september-2023" target="_blank">September 2023</a>, with statistics for the amount of maintenance due and the amount paid published in Table 5 of the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65771fed254aaa000d050a51/national-tables-child-maintenance-service-to-september-2023.ods" target="_blank">National tables</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The relevant information is included in the table below.</p><p> </p><p>CMS does not measure the compliance of Paying Parents on the Direct Pay service. Unpaid Maintenance is the value of maintenance scheduled to be paid, but not received from a Paying Parent through the Collect and Pay service, including any transferred from Direct Pay.</p><p> </p><p><strong>CMS Money Due and Paid each Quarter, Great Britain, January 2021 to September 2023</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Quarter</p></td><td><p>Maintenance due to be paid via Direct Pay (£millions)</p></td><td><p>Maintenance due to be paid via Collect and Pay (£millions)</p></td><td><p>Maintenance paid via Collect and Pay (£millions)</p></td><td><p>Unpaid Maintenance (£millions)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan to Mar 2021</p></td><td><p>203.1</p></td><td><p>58.3</p></td><td><p>45.4</p></td><td><p>12.9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr to Jun 2021</p></td><td><p>212.3</p></td><td><p>60.9</p></td><td><p>46.9</p></td><td><p>14.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jul to Sep 2021</p></td><td><p>217.1</p></td><td><p>63.1</p></td><td><p>47.4</p></td><td><p>15.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct to Dec 2021</p></td><td><p>210.2</p></td><td><p>64.4</p></td><td><p>46.6</p></td><td><p>17.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan to Mar 2022</p></td><td><p>207.1</p></td><td><p>66.8</p></td><td><p>45.6</p></td><td><p>21.2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr to Jun 2022</p></td><td><p>219.7</p></td><td><p>69.6</p></td><td><p>48.8</p></td><td><p>20.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jul to Sep 2022</p></td><td><p>231.2</p></td><td><p>71.4</p></td><td><p>49.4</p></td><td><p>22.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct to Dec 2022</p></td><td><p>231.7</p></td><td><p>69.7</p></td><td><p>49.1</p></td><td><p>20.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan to Mar 2023</p></td><td><p>237.0</p></td><td><p>72.0</p></td><td><p>49.1</p></td><td><p>22.9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr to Jun 2023</p></td><td><p>252.4</p></td><td><p>75.8</p></td><td><p>52.1</p></td><td><p>23.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jul to Sep 2023</p></td><td><p>263.2</p></td><td><p>79.1</p></td><td><p>57.5</p></td><td><p>21.6</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Source: Child Maintenance Service Management Information</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><ol><li>The figures provided are for child maintenance only and do not include fees for the use of the service. Figures are rounded to the nearest £100,000.</li><li>This table provides information on the amount of child maintenance owed by Paying Parents that was due to be paid in each quarter. It counts money due and paid for Paying Parents with an ongoing maintenance liability i.e., those for whom new child maintenance was arranged during the quarter.</li><li>Movement between service types - If a case moves from the Direct Pay service to the Collect and Pay service due to build-up of arrears, the unpaid maintenance is transferred from the Direct Pay service to the Collect and Pay service. This will be corrected for with regard to the quarter in which the transition occurs, but previous quarters’ figures are not retrospectively adjusted.</li><li>Payments outside of the statutory arrangement - This table does not include adjustments to the amount of child maintenance that should have been paid where parents have informed the Child Maintenance Service that they have made payments between themselves.</li><li>In a very small number of cases a child maintenance payment may be refunded to the Paying Parent. These Paying Parents are currently still counted as compliant, and the money is counted as paid.</li><li>In a very small number of cases a child maintenance payment may be incorrectly assigned to the wrong parent. If the money is then assigned to the correct parent, then the money paid will be counted twice.</li></ol> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 01/02/2024 14:03:46 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey

1678468

registered interest
date	18/12/2023
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 recent steps the Child Maintenance Service has taken to help recover arrears in child maintenance payments.
tabling member constituency	City of Durham
tabling member printed	Mary Kelly Foy
uin	7414
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/01/2024 answer text <p>The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) continues to take rigorous action to collect maintenance, combining robust negotiation activity with the highly effective use of its extensive range of Enforcement Powers. This approach is driven by the Payment Compliance strategy increasing CMS compliance influencing activities to tackle non-paying cases and challenge non-compliant behaviours. CMS applies a Continuous Improvement focus to Enforcement strategy and processes.</p><p>In the quarter ending September 2023, of 180,000 Paying Parents due to pay via the Collect and Pay service:</p><ul><li>49,000 (27%) had a deduction from earnings order or request in place</li><li>64,000 (35%) were due to pay via deduction from benefits</li><li>69,000 (38%) were due to pay via other methods of payment, predominantly default standing orders</li></ul><p>Depending on a Paying Parent’s employment status we use Deduction from Earnings orders or deductions from bank accounts. We have collected in excess of £16m via deduction orders in 2023. We move cases swiftly to Legal Enforcement. Securing a Liability Order (LO) for 11k cases in the courts, cases are referred to Enforcement Agents (Bailiffs) who have collected almost £5m in 2023. Where house ownership is established, charging orders and orders for sale are instigated. CMS will quickly move to taking court action for the removal of driving licence, committal to prison or removal of passport. £4.5m collected from cases at this stage.</p><p>As a result of this intense effort to increase enforcement activity £36m collected from arrears.</p><p> </p><p>The planned introduction of the Administrative Liability Order in 2024 will remove the need to apply to the courts and will reduce the current average time of 20 weeks to secure an LO to 6 weeks.</p><p> </p><p>The published statistics below provides data to September 2023 Section 9 Enforcement and the National tables 7.1 and 7.2.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-statistics-data-to-september-2023" target="_blank">Child Maintenance Service statistics: data to September 2023 - GOV.UK(www.gov.uk)</a></p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 12/01/2024 11:38:01 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4753 label Biography information for Mary Kelly Foy

1677710

registered interest
date	13/12/2023
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 average wait time is to receive a response to a Child Maintenance application.
tabling member constituency	East Renfrewshire
tabling member printed	Kirsten Oswald
uin	6825
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2023 answer text <p>Between 75 and 80% of child maintenance applications are cleared within 6 weeks and a written response is issued by letter to both customers with details of the application. This is based on the last 4 quarters performance with the average at 77%.</p><p> </p><p>An application for child maintenance will be recorded as having been made on the day it is received by the Child Maintenance Service:</p><p>1. for written applications this will mean the date shown on the office date stamp</p><p>2. for telephone applications this will mean the date that the telephone conversation takes place</p><p>3. for online applications this will mean the date the client pressed the “send application” button</p><p> </p><p>Applications are considered 'cleared' when one of the following occurs:</p><p>a) the amount of child maintenance to be paid has been calculated and an arrangement to pay maintenance between the two parents has been agreed.</p><p>b) the amount of child maintenance to be paid has been calculated as zero; or</p><p>c) the child maintenance application has been closed.</p><p> </p><p>The length of time to complete an application is most impacted by the service’s ability to trace and confirm the identity of the non-resident parent from the information provided within the application.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 19/12/2023 11:51:59 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4413 label Biography information for Kirsten Oswald

1677711

registered interest
date	13/12/2023
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 much and what proportion of his Department's contact with people applying for child maintenance is by (a) telephone, (b) letter and (c) email.
tabling member constituency	East Renfrewshire
tabling member printed	Kirsten Oswald
uin	6826
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2023 answer text <p>In the quarter ending September 2023, 97% of child maintenance applications applied online and 3% applied over the telephone. During the course of an application the Child Maintenance Service will need to contact both parents, and this may take the form of inbound and outbound telephone calls, emails, letters, messages on their Child Maintenance Account or through live chat. We do not routinely track or measure the total number of contacts and contact type throughout the application process.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 18/12/2023 15:39:17 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4413 label Biography information for Kirsten Oswald

1677712

registered interest
date	13/12/2023
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 average wait time is for people in receipt of child maintenance to obtain a detailed schedule of (a) payments made and (b) payments owed.
tabling member constituency	East Renfrewshire
tabling member printed	Kirsten Oswald
uin	6827
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2023 answer text <p>Data is not kept or reported on the average time taken to provide detailed account statements that have to be produced individually.</p><p> </p><p>All Child Maintenance new applications receive a written response, issued by letter to both customers, which details a payment schedule and any arrears owed. A renewed payment schedule and balance is issued if the liability changes due to changes in circumstance or in any event at the annual review.</p><p> </p><p>My Child Maintenance Case, Child Maintenance online portal, allows customers to view their statement back to their annual review which includes payments made and payments owed.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 18/12/2023 17:04:39 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
tabling member	4413 label Biography information for Kirsten Oswald