Recommendations & Conclusions
5 items
2
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Child Maintenance
Rejected
The Department has displayed insufficient curiosity around the needs of some of the most vulnerable separated families and their children. Take-up of the Department’s CMS scheme is substantially lower than it expected. An estimated 18% of separated families used the CMS scheme in 2019–20, compared to an expected 33%. As …
Government response. The government disagrees with the recommendation, says it has improved diversity information collection, undertakes surveys in multiple languages, and sees no need for new research given the increase in demand for CMS.
HM Treasury
4
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Child Maintenance
Rejected
The Department has not taken responsibility for detecting child maintenance fraud, instead shifting this responsibility onto its customers. The Department asserts that it does not treat tackling child maintenance fraud, where children often suffer as the end user, with any less enthusiasm than it does tackling fraud against the taxpayer. …
Government response. The government disagrees with the recommendation to take responsibility for detecting child maintenance fraud, stating it already has proportionate and cost-effective controls and a fraud strategy in place.
HM Treasury
5
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Child Maintenance
Rejected
The Department is too willing to blame low levels of customer satisfaction on CMS customers being difficult to please, despite its own systemic customer service failings. It is disheartening that customer satisfaction is no better now than it was under the failed CSA and that less than half (46%) of …
Government response. The government disagrees, stating that the Customer Experience Directorate actively invests in reviewing cases upheld by the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) to identify and implement service improvements, and will continue to utilize existing ICE publications to inform lessons learned.
HM Treasury
8
Recommendation
Ninth Report - Child Maintenance
Rejected
The Department has repeatedly failed to achieve savings targets for the child maintenance scheme over the past decade and again risks overpromising on the benefits of its current transformation programme. The Department has reduced the cost to the taxpayer of administering child maintenance by £172 million from £494 million in …
Government response. The government disagrees, stating their Transformation Programme introduces changes to improve efficiency and automation. They report performance in Annual Reports and Accounts, and regularly review services and programmes to ensure value for money.
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Ninth Report - Child Maintenance
Rejected
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Work & Pensions (the Department) about child maintenance in Great Britain.1 We also received and considered written evidence from individuals and organisations from within the sector.
Government response. The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation, stating that the Department for Work and Pensions (the department) has a clear interest in how child maintenance is integrated into wider government policy, and it intends to continue to discharge this working …
HM Treasury