Select committee: Work and Pensions Committee
Conclusion 15
Sixth Report - Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service
Published 27 Apr 2023
Paragraph 76
Addressed to Department for Work and Pensions
Work and Pensions Committee Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Government policy is to encourage work, returning to work and in-work progression as far as possible to help reduce poverty, however multiple reports have raised concern both about the affordability of maintenance payments and distorted the work incentives caused by the current maintenance levels. This poses a risk to work incentive objectives of Universal Credit.
From: Work and Pensions Committee, Sixth Report - Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service (HC 272), paragraph 76, 27 April 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 6 July 2023.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's report and responds to each recommendation, agreeing with some aims and disagreeing with or declining others.
- It agrees that effective enforcement should be a key priority, and says that if the Child Support (Enforcement) Bill receives royal assent, a simpler administrative liability order will "substantially speed up" moves to stronger enforcement.
- It disagrees that the Financial Investigation Unit referral system is not functioning as it should, and does not agree that splitting Child Benefit between parents with shared care would be appropriate.
- On Universal Credit, it says "there are no estimated timescales currently" for partial deductions for child maintenance, and "no plans currently" to alter the order of deductions.
- It intends a "fundamental review" of the child maintenance calculation, including whether to include both parental incomes, and says it will consider moving rates into secondary legislation. Any changes would be explored "at the earliest opportunity" if the review indicates they are necessary.