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<p>The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) operates 2 service types: Direct Pay and Collect
and Pay. In Direct Pay cases, the CMS provides a maintenance calculation and issues
a payment schedule, but the payments are arranged privately between the receiving
parent and the paying parent. In Collect and Pay, the CMS collects the maintenance
from the paying parent and transfers it to the receiving parent.</p><p>Since Direct
Pay was introduced, the CMS has made several improvements to how the service operates.
The importance of full and on-time maintenance payments is emphasised in all cases
and the CMS will notify parents at the start of every case, and at each annual review,
what to do if their arrangement breaks down.</p><p>The CMS also sends SMS messages
to all receiving parents using the Direct Pay service to remind them to contact the
CMS if their maintenance arrangement is not working. My Child Maintenance Case, which
is a parent’s online service account with the CMS, also reminds parents to check their
bank account for receipt of direct payments and encourages digital reporting of any
missed payments.</p><p>If a Direct Pay arrangement breaks down, the case will be moved
to Collect and Pay where the CMS collects the money from the paying parent and transfers
it to the receiving parent. Further enforcement action can also be taken if parents
continue to fail to pay.</p><p>Government takes the issue of domestic abuse extremely
seriously and recognises that domestic abuse often continues and can worsen after
separation, which can have detrimental impacts on the welfare of children.</p><p>The
CMS has procedures in place to ensure victims and survivors of domestic abuse can
use its services safely. Of 29,000 new applications to the CMS in the quarter ending
December 2023, 56% of applications were exempt from the application fee, largely on
the grounds of domestic abuse.</p><p>The CMS recognises that domestic abuse can take
many forms including physical, emotional, or financial abuse, violent or threatening
behaviour and coercive control and has procedures in place to ensure domestic abuse
cases are handled appropriately.</p><p>For parents using the Direct Pay service, the
CMS can act as an intermediary to facilitate the exchange of bank details to help
ensure there is no unwanted contact between parents and can provide information on
how to set up bank accounts with a centralised sort code, which reduces the risk of
a parent’s location being traced. CMS caseworkers will also signpost, where needed,
to suitable domestic abuse organisations, if domestic abuse is raised or suspected.</p><p>The
Department publishes quarterly statistics for the CMS. Latest statistics are available
up to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-statistics-data-to-december-2023"
target="_blank">December 2023</a>, with statistics for the number of child maintenance
cases moved from collect and pay to direct pay shown in ‘Table 4: Service Type Changes,
Great Britain, October 2015 to December 2023’ of the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6601806ff1d3a0666832ac65/national-tables-child-maintenance-service-to-december-2023.ods"
target="_blank">National tables</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested in relation
to how many child maintenance cases were moved from collect and pay to direct pay
where the child maintenance service was aware of domestic abuse in (a) 2022 and (b)
2023, is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p><strong><em>
</em></strong></p><p>The Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act 2023 received
Royal Assent on 28 June 2023 following a Private Members Bill that had full Government
support. We announced a consultation early 2024 to seek views on how the CMS collects
and transfers maintenance.</p><p> </p><p>On 8 May, the Department published a public
consultation, Improving the Collection and Transfer of Payments, which follows the
Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act 2023 receiving Royal Assent. The consultation
proposes to remove the Direct Pay service completely, which will go further than the
measures set out in the Act and provide the same level of protection for all parents.</p><p>
</p><p>The consultation closes 31<sup>st</sup> July 2024. The Government will then
carefully consider the feedback and a response will be published.</p><p> </p><p>To
find out more information go to: Child Maintenance: Improving the collection and transfer
of payments - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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