Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (): Today, the Government will publish a child
maintenance consultation: improving the collection and transfer
of maintenance payments.
Families play a fundamental role in the success of our society,
so it is crucial that all types of families have their financial
needs met. For some families that are separated, paying and
receiving child maintenance payments can be the difference
between a child living in poverty and having the opportunity of a
hopeful future.
It is estimated receiving parents in separated families received
£2.8 billion annually in child maintenance payments through both
private and child maintenance service arrangements between 2021
and 2023. These payments keep around 160,000 children out of
poverty each year.
The Government wants to go even further to ensure the child
maintenance service continues to support all parents for years to
come. While it works well for many parents, there is evidence
that suggests the direct pay service may not be working as
intended, and from experience of delivering the service over the
last decade we have identified three fundamental issues with
direct pay that, should they be addressed, would improve the
service and ensure more money is paid to parents.
Firstly, direct pay was introduced to encourage collaboration and
to act as a stepping stone towards a family-based arrangement.
The child maintenance service recognises this is not possible for
all parents, but when it is appropriate and safe, a family-based
arrangement has the potential to be better for children, families
and the taxpayer. However, there is little evidence to suggest
that the direct pay service is achieving this objective.
There is also an issue of hidden non-compliant cases on direct
pay, despite the efforts of the child maintenance service to
encourage parents to report a breakdown in their arrangement as
soon as possible. Delaying reporting missed payments can cause
further delays in cases being moved to collect and pay which also
results in arrears building up.
Lastly, direct pay is falling short in its support for victims
and survivors of domestic abuse. This was particularly made
apparent by discussion around the Child Support Collection
(Domestic Abuse) Act which received Royal Assent in June 2023.
The Act, which began work towards Dr Samantha Callan's
independent review recommendation to prevent the use of direct
pay as a form of coercion and control by perpetrators, brought
forward legislation to allow cases to move from direct pay to
collect and pay when there is evidence of domestic abuse.
In response to these issues, and as part of achieving the
objectives of the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act,
we want to explore wide ranging reforms to child maintenance
service types, including removing the direct pay service and
managing all child maintenance service cases in one streamlined
service. This will allow the child maintenance service to tackle
non-compliance faster and, when necessary, take enforcement
action much more quickly.
In addition, it will allow the child maintenance service to
identify cases that may be suitable for a family-based
arrangement and provide improved support to help ease the process
of setting up private family-based arrangements.
Furthermore, the child maintenance service will provide more
appropriate support for victims and survivors of domestic abuse.
This will build on the work towards full implementation of Dr
Callan's main independent review recommendation and will go
further than the measures set out in the Child Support Collection
(Domestic Abuse) Act by providing the same level of protection
for all parents without requiring them to provide evidence of
abuse.
This consultation is a positive step towards creating a better
child maintenance service that supports, further protects, and
improves the lives of separated families and children across the
United Kingdom.
I will place a copy of the consultation document in the House
Library.
