Hello,
Thanks to everyone who posted on this thread. We've heard back from Parliament's engagement and they have asked us to post this update.
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Our sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to this discussion. Your responses were passed on to Martyn Day MP ahead of his debate on Tuesday. He put many of the points you raised to Work and Pensions Minister Will Quince MP.
During the debate Martyn thanked those that contributed stating that:
“the ineffectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service has a negative impact on a significant number of people. That is certainly supported by the nearly 1,000 people who responded to the House of Commons Facebook post and the Mumsnet thread that invited comments ahead of the debate. I thank each and every person who made the effort to share their experiences on those forums —many of them were quite traumatic tales [...] I can state that almost none of the paying and receiving parents who responded had had a positive experience in dealing with the Child Maintenance Service.”
We caught up with him after the debate to find out how he thought it went. He wanted to relay his thanks in a video which will be added to this thread.
You can read the transcript for the debate on Hansard.
Watch it on Parliamentlive.tv.
And read a House of Commons Library Briefing prepared for the debate which covers the relevant issues.
Here are some extracts from his speech which relate to some of the points you raised:
The enforcement capabilities of CMS:
“I warmly welcome the introduction of tough new sanctions for those who evade their parental responsibilities, but if the enforcement actions are not applied they are a blunt tool that does nothing to encourage paying parents to meet their obligations.”
“It is a constant stop/start process. My staff member was ultimately advised that the procedures for enforcing the payment of arrears in child maintenance were not being adhered to because the operational powers laid out in legislation fall short in practice.”
Staffing levels at CMS:
“In answer to a written parliamentary question, I was advised last week that the overall head count of part-time and full-time enforcement case managers on 30 June 2019 equated to an overall full-time equivalent resource of 220.91, with 104 being employed full time. Clearly, operational resources have not been increased; they have actually decreased. It is therefore also unsurprising that Department for Work and Pensions figures show that arrears owed in respect of child maintenance rose by more than £7 million in just three months, between December 2018 and March 2019.”
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Will Quince MP responded to these points:
The enforcement capabilities of CMS:
“A number of hon. Members raised the issue of enforcement, and we are taking far more action in that regard. We now have several court-based powers, including the use of enforcement agents, otherwise known as bailiffs, to seize goods, forcing the sale of the paying parent’s property. Approximately 7,100 paying parents in England and Wales are currently being pursued by civil enforcement agents for unpaid maintenance following a referral by the CMS.”
“Hon. Members also mentioned that the service can apply to have the paying parent sanctioned—by being committed to prison or disqualified from driving, for example. In addition to that, in regulations in November last year we launched the ability to disqualify non-compliant parents from holding a UK passport, which we believe will act as a strong deterrent. The service initiated 900 sanctions in the quarter ending March 2019 as a last resort against non-compliant paying parents.”
NRP declaring false income
“We are aware of a small number of parents whose maintenance liability is inconsistent with their financial resources. Some choose to support themselves via a complex arrangement of assets rather than taking a salary. We are taking action to address that.”
“Parents can request a variation so that most forms of taxable income can be taken into account in the maintenance calculation, which will make it harder for individuals to avoid their responsibilities by minimising the amount of child maintenance they pay. The new powers that we introduced last year allow us to target complex earners via a calculation of notional income based on assets. In addition to the gross annual income provided by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, we can capture income derived from property, savings and investments, including dividends, and other miscellaneous income. We also have the Financial Investigation Unit, which can investigate those parents who declare suspicious earnings or, where appropriate, refer to HMRC for tax fraud.”
If you have an issue with the CMS, or would like to speak to someone about your case, you can contact your MP or Citizens Advice.