Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 2
2
Accepted
Paragraph: 24
Require Department to proactively monitor and regularly report on Direct Pay arrangement effectiveness
Conclusion
One of the purposes of the reforms introducing the Child Maintenance Service was to increase the number of effective arrangements between parents. There is a paucity of data on how many Direct Pay arrangements are effective, which in turn obscures the level of child maintenance not being paid. This inhibits the ability of the Department to demonstrate the ability of the system to meet policy objectives. The Department should proactively monitor the effectiveness of Direct Pay arrangements and report regularly on the number of such arrangements that are effective. An initial survey should take place no later than six months after the Direct Pay arrangement has commenced. Surveys should then take place at regular intervals, at least once every 12 months.
Government Response Summary
The government highlights that DWP has conducted two large-scale research projects (in 2016 and 2022) on Direct Pay effectiveness, showing high payment rates for enduring arrangements. It also notes that CMS sends SMS messages at three months and annually to remind parents to report issues, and parents can switch to Collect & Pay. The government commits to *considering* further research to support any future policy reforms.
Paragraph Reference:
24
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) has conducted two large-scale research projects on the Direct Pay service, one published in 2016 and a follow-up project published in 2022. The surveys show that many arrangements switch to the Collect & Pay service or family-based arrangements and for those receiving parents still using Direct Pay after 13 months, over 90% received all or most of the child maintenance they were due. The Direct Pay service allows parents to focus on collaboration, agreeing on their payment plan and managing payments between themselves but with support from the CMS. 2 Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service: Government Response The CMS sends SMS messages to all receiving parents using the Direct Pay service three months after they set up their arrangement to remind them to contact the CMS if it is not working. Messages are also sent each year at the point of the annual review. Receiving parents can and do request to move to the Collect & Pay service when their direct pay arrangements do not work. In each quarter of 2022, around 2% of Direct Pay cases switched to the Collect & Pay service. We will consider further research into Direct Pay to support any future policy reforms.