Sixth Report - Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service

The government acknowledged the need for effective enforcement and stated it has already improved enforcement processes, including virtual court presenting. It highlights ongoing legislative changes via the Child Support (Enforcement) Private Members Bill, which, if passed, will remove the requirement for court-issued liability orders and introduce administrative orders to substantially speed up enforcement.

The government stated it continues to monitor separated families and is undertaking initiatives to increase CMS awareness. It is training staff in jobcentres and Universal Credit to signpost parents to the "Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance" service for support. It will consider further research on reasons for not having arrangements as part of any future policy reforms.

The government commits to a fundamental review of the child maintenance calculation, including updating research on children's costs, assessing the scope for including both parental incomes, and exploring legislative changes, aligning with the call to prioritise children's welfare.

The government accepts the recommendation to consider an income-share model, stating it has begun a fundamental review of the child maintenance calculation to update research and ensure it reflects today’s social trends, which will include assessing the scope to incorporate both parental incomes. Any necessary changes would require primary legislation and will be explored at the earliest opportunity.

The government states it is focused on improving customer experience with a new Customer Experience Strategy and ongoing modernisation. It notes that the 2020/21 Customer Experience Survey annual report was published in May 2023 and that it reviews its CES reports annually, implying existing public reporting.

The government states that CMS opening hours are regularly reviewed based on demand and that they have recently extended telephony service to 6pm on weekdays. However, it does not commit to trialling weekend opening hours as recommended.

The government shares the Committee's view on effective enforcement and states that DWP has already made substantial improvements to the CMS enforcement process, aiming to maximize efficiency and effectiveness on a case-by-case basis.

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.

The government stated it has already introduced dedicated teams to swift action requests for change to Collect and Pay and allows 24/7 reporting of missed payments. It is also embarking on a Modernisation Programme to separate the administration of direct pay and collect and pay cases and improve communications to parents on reporting ineffective arrangements.

The government stated that complex earnings (like unearned income) are currently handled through caseworker intervention or referred to a specialist financial investigation unit. It is planning to include unearned income in the initial calculation using HMRC data, which aims to automate and safeguard against misstatement, thereby improving the process of identifying income sources.

The government committed to reviewing CMS caseworker guidance on 50/50 day-to-day care to ensure accurate decisions using all available evidence, including court orders. However, it disagreed that child benefit is a blunt tool for determining the receiving parent, defending its use as a good indicator due to its alignment with the CMS's day-to-day care policy.

The government states it has already addressed historic CSA arrears through an 'arrears cleanse' process, allowing parents to make representations and disputing debt. Uncollectable debt can then be considered for write-off through existing procedures.

The government acknowledges issues with historic CSA arrears and states it previously addressed these by closing old cases and conducting a 'case cleanse' process to stabilize debt balances. Both parents were given outstanding debt information and an opportunity to dispute it before collections began.

The government has commenced a pilot program providing a single named caseworker for complex domestic abuse cases, accepting recommendations from an independent review. Findings from this pilot will inform future decisions regarding a wider rollout as part of CMS's Modernisation programme.

The government states that CMS has already significantly improved communication channels by introducing digital services as the preferred contact method, allowing customers to update information and request changes 24/7. This implies an existing electronic system.