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765617

registered interest
date	06/10/2017
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, why the Child Maintenance Service allows non-resident parents £2,500 of unearned income that is not factored into payment plans; and whether he plans to review this policy.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	106137
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2017 answer text <p>Calculation of a child maintenance liability is based on gross income information provided directly to the Child Maintenance Service by HMRC. <del class="ministerial">Individuals are required to declare unearned income not taxed at source which does not exceed £2500 a year to HMRC, which already enables HMRC to include it in the income information they provide.</del> Unearned income exceeding £2500 a year is dealt with by HMRC through tax self-assessment <del class="ministerial">and is picked up in a child maintenance calculation through an unearned income variation. We have no plans to review this.</del><ins class="ministerial">The treatment of unearned income for child maintenance purposes is aligned with this for administrative efficiency. We are inviting views on the future treatment of &quot;income&quot; within the recently published Compliance and Arrears Strategy consultation.</ins></p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 12/10/2017 13:56:00 question first ministerially corrected 01/02/2018 17:10:55 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse previous answer version 14051 answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

747511

registered interest
date	03/07/2017
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 criteria his Department uses for determining the likelihood that child maintenance arrears will be collected.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	2605
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2017 answer text <p>The department publishes an annual estimate of child maintenance arrears in the Client Funds Account that sets out the three categories of collectability.</p><p> </p><p><strong>1. Likely to be collected:</strong> Debt which meets criteria indicating that the Department has a good chance of collecting it. The criteria are:</p><ul><li>At least one payment made against the outstanding arrears in the six months prior to the reporting date.</li><li>At least one payment made in excess of the scheduled amount</li></ul><p> </p><p><strong>2. Potentially collectable:</strong> Debt which meets criteria indicating that the Department has a reasonable chance of collecting it. The criteria are:</p><ul><li>The existence of a payment schedule at any point during the six months prior to the reporting date, even though no payments were received in the period.</li><li>For recent arrears, i.e. aged three months or less, the receipt of at least one payment against those arrears after the reporting date.</li><li>Debt on cases where enforcement action such as deduction directly from the non-resident parent’s bank account, or forcing the sale of their property is likely to be successful.</li></ul><p> </p><p><strong>3. Uncollectable:</strong> All remaining debt which does not meet the criteria for either of the other categories.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 06/07/2017 09:36:45 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

747512

registered interest
date	03/07/2017
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 steps he is taking to collect child maintenance arrears, by category of collectability.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	2606
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2017 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">The department publishes an annual estimate of child maintenance arrears in the Client Funds Account that sets out the three categories of collectability.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>1. Likely to be collected:</strong> Debt which meets criteria indicating that the Department has a good chance of collecting it. The criteria are:</del></p><ul><li><del class="ministerial">At least one payment made against the outstanding arrears in the six months prior to the reporting date.</del></li><li><del class="ministerial">At least one payment made in excess of the scheduled amount</del></li></ul><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>2. Potentially collectable:</strong> Debt which meets criteria indicating that the Department has a reasonable chance of collecting it. The criteria are:</del></p><ul><li><del class="ministerial">The existence of a payment schedule at any point during the six months prior to the reporting date, even though no payments were received in the period.</del></li><li><del class="ministerial">For recent arrears, i.e. aged three months or less, the receipt of at least one payment against those arrears after the reporting date.</del></li><li><del class="ministerial">Debt on cases where enforcement action such as deduction directly from the non-resident parent’s bank account, or forcing the sale of their property is likely to be successful.</del></li></ul><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial"><strong>3. Uncollectable:</strong> All remaining debt which does not meet the criteria for either of the other categories.</del></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong><ins class="ministerial"> <p><ins class="ministerial">The Department aims to ensure parents fulfil their obligation to make financial provision for their children and that maintenance is paid accurately and on time. Our priority, as outlined in our published Arrears and Compliance Strategy is to collect on-going maintenance and arrears in cases where there is still a child who stands to benefit.</ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">Child maintenance arrears are categorised in the Client Fund Account according to the likelihood of them being collected. We consider action on all cases that fall into the collectable and potentially collectable categories of debt. Where we are unable to take enforcement action, for example where we cannot trace the non-resident parent, cases will fall into the uncollectable category and will be reviewed as resources allow.</ins></p></ins></strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 06/07/2017 09:26:53 question first ministerially corrected 06/07/2017 10:03:54 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage previous answer version 2227 answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

747513

registered interest
date	03/07/2017
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, if he will implement the recommendations in the Work and Pensions Select Committee report, Child Maintenance Service, HC587, published on 2 May 2017; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	2574
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2017 answer text <p>The Government welcomes the Work and Pensions Select Committee report and is carefully considering its recommendations. We will submit the Government response in due course.</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 05/07/2017 15:40:12 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

746377

registered interest
date	28/06/2017
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	Social Security Benefits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost was to the public purse of legal fees in relation to defending the benefit cap in the High Court; and how much his Department estimates the cost of appealing the High Court's decision on that case will be.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	1771
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/07/2017 answer text <p>Legal fees of defending the case in the High Court are £67,690. This figure includes VAT where payable (for example on Counsel’s fees) and disbursements but does not include costs attributable to time spent by Government advisory lawyers, as time spent by such advisory lawyers is not recorded in a manner that allows it to be attributable to individual court cases.</p><p> </p><p>DWP has also paid £125,000 (plus VAT) towards the Claimants’ costs.</p><p> </p><p>DWP’s legal costs for appealing the case in the Court of Appeal are estimated to be between £25,000 and £40,000 (this includes our best estimate of external Counsel fees).</p> answering member constituency Gosport answering member printed Caroline Dinenage question first answered 03/07/2017 14:09:52 answering member 4008 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Dinenage
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

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

678735

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	Employment and Support Allowance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons a person is required to meet a minimum level of national insurance contributions before they are eligible to receive employment support allowance.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	61587
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/01/2017 answer text <p>Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is an earnings replacement benefit which has both contributory and income-related elements.</p><p> </p><p>The structure of ESA means that those who are most in need can still be protected by the income-related element of the benefit even if no National Insurance contributions have been made. The principle of National Insurance is that, by paying a minimum level of contributions, people insure themselves against a range of risks which may interrupt their employment including illness.</p> answering member constituency Portsmouth North answering member printed Penny Mordaunt question first answered 30/01/2017 16:15:20 answering member 4017 label Biography information for Penny Mordaunt
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

674378

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, what criteria were used to determine the Child Maintenance Service's enforcement charges, including liability orders, lump sum reduction orders, regular deduction orders and deduction from earnings orders and requests.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	60231
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2017 answer text <p>Enforcement charges are intended to encourage parents to comply with their commitments, as well as to help off-set the administrative cost of taking enforcement action. The enforcement charges are lower than the actual cost to the Department for taking the action. To charge the full cost could have an adverse effect and encourage non-compliance, as well as being potentially disproportionate to the size of the debt. The levels are designed to be proportionate to the type, and seriousness, of the order that is being pursued.</p><p> </p><p>Enforcement charges are only collected once the ongoing maintenance and any arrears due have, been paid.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 20/01/2017 10:42:56 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows

648900

registered interest
date	30/11/2016
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 requests for the child maintenance service's collect and pay service came from (a) resident and (b) non-resident parents in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15, and (iii) 2015-16; and how many children such requests related to in each of those years.
tabling member constituency	Motherwell and Wishaw
tabling member printed	Marion Fellows
uin	55590
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/12/2016 answer text <p>Information on the number of cases using the collect and pay service is only available from August 2014. As at the end of March 2015, 28,600 cases were using the collect and pay service and this figure increased to 51,800 cases as at the end of March 2016.</p><p> </p><p>More details can be found on page 8 of the Child Maintenance Scheme quarterly summary of statistics which can be accessed online at:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/564183/child-maintenance-service-2012-scheme-aug-16.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/564183/child-maintenance-service-2012-scheme-aug-16.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>Information on whether the request was made by the resident or the non-resident parent is not routinely collected and can only be provided at a disproportionate cost. Similarly, information on the number of children involved for parents using the Collect and Pay service specifically is not routinely collected and may only be provided at a disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Please note that a case may have more than one child.</p> answering member constituency Romsey and Southampton North answering member printed Caroline Nokes question first answered 05/12/2016 11:13:07 answering member 4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes
tabling member	4440 label Biography information for Marion Fellows