Guest post: 'We overhauled the Child Support Agency precisely because it wasn’t working'

[MumsnetGuestPosts]

1. Does the service actually use the powers it has to make parents face consequences for non-payment?

Yes. As many of you know, we overhauled the Child Support Agency precisely because it wasn’t working. Over time we have made our consequences tougher and importantly, we are using them more and more.

The powers we can use include deducting money from the non-paying parent’s earnings through their employer and accessing funds from bank accounts, including joint accounts. We can register the debt with a credit reference agency, which can impact their credit rating and ability to get a mortgage. We can also grant court action for liability orders, which means Enforcement Agents could come and sell their property to pay unpaid maintenance and any costs. If that doesn’t work, we can also disqualify them from driving, confiscate their licence, take their passport away, or send them to prison.

Because of the changes we have made, our service is improving year on year - and the numbers show we are using the powers we have to help families. The amount of maintenance arranged for the benefit of children has increased by 20% compared to last year, and £1 billion of maintenance is expected to be arranged this year alone.

Currently, there are 48,300 deductions from earnings orders and requests in place; and 3,500 regular and lump sum deduction orders in place. During the quarter ending June 2019, £26.1 million was collected from parents undergoing a deduction from earnings order or request; and £2.9m was deducted directly from the paying parent’s bank accounts.

2. How much effort do you put in to finding a non-paying parent?

A huge amount. We can use all kinds of sources to find an individual, from HMRC records to someone’s phone bill information. We’ll do everything we can to contact them and contact their employer if we need to.

If we’ve made reasonable attempts to contact them and given them enough chances to pay, we can start enforcement measures using just their address - regardless of whether we’ve been able to talk to them or not.

Before that point, we’ll use our administrative powers to encourage them to pay, such as the deduction from earnings order (if they are employed) or a deduction order, where we can freeze and collect money from a bank account that we have evidence they use. If this doesn’t work, we’ll move on to tougher legal action.

3. How does it work when non-paying parents have other children they owe maintenance for? How does that affect what my child will get?

We split the payments on a pro-rata basis so no child is favoured over the other.
These calculations seem complicated because they involve three households: yours, the other household with children, and the paying parent. You can use our online calculator to work out how much you should be getting. It’ll show you what we’re likely to work out for you.

How many children the paying parent has affects how much they pay you for your child. How much they earn is taken into account to make sure they can afford it, and reflects how much they’d pay for their child if they were living with them. For example, if the paying parent is on the basic rate of child maintenance, then how much they have to pay you depends on how many other children they’re paying for as well. So, in this case, if paying parent is paying for one child, then they’ll pay 12% of their gross weekly income. If there’s two children, they’ll pay 16%, and three or more children is 19%. This is assuming that your child stays with you all the time.

4. Some parents are using job-hopping to avoid paying. What are you doing about that?

If a parent changes jobs, unless their income goes up or down by 25%, the maintenance calculation will remain the same until the annual review – but rest assured that we have access to real time earnings information from HMRC to verify current income figures.

If you’re concerned about the paying parent deliberately job-hopping to avoid paying, you can request a mandatory reconsideration where your maintenance calculation will be reassessed and their earnings are looked into in more detail.

It can be difficult to get a small minority of parents with complex incomes to comply. That’s why we have a new compliance and arrears strategy, which includes proposed changes to target loopholes.

This is in addition to working more closely with HMRC and dedicating more resources to the specialist financial investigation unit, who have the power to look more closely into individual circumstances to see if parents are actively avoiding their responsibility.

We can’t force a paying parent to stay in a certain job, and people who do job-hop are difficult to pursue. But we’ll use every power at our disposal to get them to pay for their children.

5. Some parents use self-employment to hide their earnings and pay less. What are you doing about that?

If someone suspects their ex-partner of avoiding paying child maintenance, fraud, or not declaring their earnings, they should inform us straight away so we can refer the case to our Financial Investigations Unit (FIU) and investigate the situation fully.

They can check the accuracy of the information that the paying parent has given the CMS. When it comes to assessing how much a self-employed person should be paying, we receive their gross income and gross taxable profit of their business for the most recent tax year from HMRC – and they can charge penalties for inaccurate reporting if the FIU finds out that tax hasn’t been paid.

6. What about parents who deliberately aren’t registered as UK taxpayers, but have a home in the UK?

We’re aware of a small number of parents whose payments don’t match up with their finances and resources, because they can choose to support themselves via a complex arrangement of assets rather than taking a salary.

We have new powers to deal with this. It means that assets from a specified list can be taken into account when calculating child maintenance, including houses. If the total value of those assets is above £31,250, we’ll calculate what’s called a notional income of 8% of the value of those assets. This aims to be effective in targeting a parent with a wealthy lifestyle where their income is complex or can’t be pinned down.

7. Why aren’t the additional costs of raising a disabled child taken into account for the calculation?

CMS goes off the paying parent’s income which takes a percentage from their earnings based on the number of children they have, rather than the specific circumstances of a child.

Through the welfare system, there’s financial support available for parents raising children with disabilities such as the Disability Living Allowance (DLA), which can provide up to £148.85 a week to help with the cost of looking after a child under 16 depending on the level of help needed. You can find more information, such as the eligibility requirements and how to claim, online.

When your child turns 16, DLA becomes Personal Independence Payments (PIP). We’ll write to let them know, as usually they’ll need to apply for it. A claim can be started by calling the DWP on 0800 917 2222, with the information provided in the PIP claimant guide. This system also provides up to £148.85 a week.

8. Why do payment amounts change, and often without notice?

We’ll set the payment amount for the paying parent and you’ll be informed if we changed that.

If you don’t get the amount we’ve told you, or you don’t get anything at all, let us know and we’ll chase them. We can use our enforcement measures, or move them on to the collect-and-pay system.

9. Inconsistent advice is a big problem. Why can’t I have a dedicated case worker?

You will get a dedicated worker who will oversee your case if it’s particularly complicated. But, in most cases, our trained staff have the right level of understanding and expertise to help you. We regularly train our staff to make sure they are equipped to handle the variety of cases that come their way.

We’re continually looking at our service to make sure we’re delivering the best outcomes we can. For example, we’ve changed the way we route calls, improving how many land with the right team straight away. Colleagues know they can take action on customer queries, and that they should give clear, consistent expectations on how long things may take so you don’t feel in the dark.
And, no matter how you choose to contact our department, we will work hard to provide you with an effective resolution and, importantly, get money to your family as early as possible.

10. Why won’t I get maintenance for my child past the age of 18?

Sometimes you can, because of how we legally define a child. Your child is eligible for CMS if they’re under the age of 20 and in full-time education, or you’ve registered for child benefits for them. To be eligible for child benefits until they’re 20 years old, again, they need to be in approved full-time education or training, and live in the UK. If this isn’t the case, when your child turns 19, the paying parent is no longer liable.

Baroness Stedman-Scott will be returning to the post on Thursday 10 October

[happycamper11]

Oh and even being on a Facebook page with thousands of people in the same boat, some with tens of thousands in arrears I've never heard of anyone having their passport/driving licence removed or go to prison. Not one.

[dontpooyoureyesturnbrown]

Wow. A lot of angry mums here. I didn't realise the system is so 💩

[Casander]

This is a lovely fairy story. I've been going backwards and forwards with them for 5 years after my "self employed" ex. First he owed £2500, then the next person I spoke to didn't know what I was on about. He's now finally after 6 months been moved to collect and pay but they can't actually collect anything.
They repeatedly tell me they'll start enforcement action but we all know they won't. Nobody seems to talk to each other and everyone tells you something different.

If I matched his financial contribution to DS he would have been taken off me for neglect!

[autumncolour]

I have made repeated applications, but my ex still has never paid a penny. He has a home in the UK and a job working as a Director for a UK company. He has a pension from the civil service. As he has made himself ex-resident for tax purposes however, apparently he doesn’t have to pay. No way does the system work - I certainly haven’t found that the ‘overhauled’ system has helped my son in any way.

[AlfredDoggyPooch]

Are you planning on improving the set-up time for 'Deductions of Earnings Orders?' Currently it can take up to 3/4 months from when the paying parent leaves first notifies the CMS that they are leaving employment, until the first deduction is made - even when they've gone straight into their new job from their last one.
This long process enables the job-hopper to get 3/4 months wages without deductions, before leaving that job as soon as the deductions start. My ex did this exact thing for 29 months. I was told multiple times that Enforcement Action was being started, in fact I was promised by one Case Manager that a Court date was booked! However it never happened.

In the end I just gave up. I have not heard from my last Case Manager (or anyone from the CMS) in nearly 2 years! Haven't had a single penny since Christmas 2016, even though he's supposed to be on Collect & Pay(!)
If you don't chase them every few days then it appears no work is done on your case 🤷🏼‍♀️

[purplemagnet]

The CMS is not fit for purpose. It is a system with so many inherent but unavoidable flaws that it is difficult to know where to start. Why do NR parents not pay maintenance if they are working abroad, often earning lucrative salaries? Why is UK taxation the abiding factor in calculations, affording a loop hole for them not to support their offspring financially whilst living the high life abroad? Amoral.

[NeverTwerkNaked]

This is a lovely bit of PR but surely the person who wrote it either knows it isn't true or really hasn't spent much time talking to people who use the service

-originally CMS didn't get dividend details from.HMRC so it was left to me to figure out why exH was living the life of riley on £150/week

• I wasn't told.there was any option for fraud to be investigated. I was just told that they weren't interested in DPs lifestyle and assets as they could be funded from anywhere

-there seems to be know curiousity about the fact so many father's earnings take a huge drop after they separate. Particularly those where their industry is notorious for cash in hand work
-i was actively discouraged on numerous occasions from pushing for a switch to collect and pay, so in the end have had to put up with late and inconsistent payments based on a disclosed salary that is hugely at odds with his lifestyle.

• the payment calculation sydtem also encourages dad's to push for extra contact they didn't even want. Mine has nearly 50/50 on paper but the reality is quite different. I do all the hospital trips and dentists and sort school uniform etc etc and he often doesn't even have them when he is supposed to.

[PrettyPurse]

I get a decent maintenance from XH for our children so l have not had to contact CMS but even l know this is all a load of bollocks.

I have friends whose useless "father's" don't pay a penny....and NOTHING is done.

Baroness Stedman-Scott you have absolutely NO insight or knowledge to what actually happens at grassroot level.... only what your management team want you to hear..... afterall they won't tell you it's a shit system as that's their jobs and bonuses gone!!

[kitk]

I've found the CMS worse than the CSA. No payments in 6 years and the onus apparently on me to prove ex is working even tho he's 200 miles away and I don't have time/money to travel to stalk everywhere he might work

[EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall]

My ex went SE , was supposed to pay £5 A week but never did

I've recently had a letter saying they were wiping what he owed . They never even tried to collect the £5 A week. D's is nearly 25 now

[Iwantacookie]

I'm still waiting for a call back from January.
Why cant you make him pay up?
You obviously haven't took his driving licence as he rocked up in a new car.
In nrp wont pay for their dc. Dwp should pay then go after nrp. Wonder how much quicker they would be on collecting arrears?

[NeverTwerkNaked]

It seems clear to me that RP should be paid direct by CMS and then CMS recover the money from the NRP. I bet CMS would all of a sudden throw a lot more money at recovery then!

[cookiemonster5]

That is the best laugh I have had all year!! That is brilliant!

If this is actually serious points 1-9 are complete bull. Totally opposite of mine and hundreds, if not thousands ,of others. I have not received maintenance since CMS started. They could not do a simple search on Companies House to find my ex. Nor did my case worker have the maths skills of a 6 year old to work out that my ex claiming he earned less than £5 PER WEEK, yet claiming no benefits, and offering £5 PER WEEK payment to reduce his arrears while on a nil assessment is a fiscal impossibility.

Now it's been around 8 years, he has fled the country to a REMO country, but no one has sorted the paperwork so it couldn't be enforced. He is living the life of Reilly leaving all his responsibilities behind and the CMS just tell me to make an arrangement with him myself. My abuser. Who broke my rib while pregnant, raped my twice daily and had his family and friends threaten me with violence on an almost hourly basis till I found out who kept giving him my phone number.

But that wasn't enough of a reason, combined with previous non-payment and DEO, was reason enough to set up a new DEO and save me disclosing my area by way of sort code.

[BackInAtLast]

I've been lobbying and campaigning for years with my MP on this. We have had some success, won a Government inquiry into it, and after a couple of years some points have apparently improved.

However, as many of you point out, the govt wiped out the £4.8BILLION debt accrued by the old CMS that was owed to resident parents that they couldn't/wouldn't enforce.

Gingerbread and other charities agree that the new system is still not fit for purpose for tricky self employed people, and also for people who have a situation of domestic abuse.

With my MP, I have been to HOP to present to the DWP select committee, been mentioned in HOP, and have interviewed top civil servants on changes made.

Despite all this, I feel the same. That the core of (mainly self employed) parents who can and want to fiddle the system, they go unpunished. Yes there are tools available. But when I asked in March 2019, the figures of taking passports away for non payment were ZERO! (It only started a few months before but still).

FWIW I tried v v hard to get the Australian system adopted and it was just impossible. No one would do it.

I strongly feel the govt has a condescending attitude that parents should 'do the mature thing and make private arrangements'. The reality for many is that parents are forced to accept what they are given without recourse. And children are not supported which puts more pressure on our benefits system. I also feel that's why they won't enforce it. Because if that TRULY worked, then benefits could be offset against maintenance. But as they simply can't enforce, this will never be the case.

I won't give up. I am still trying with a group of mums and our MP, who has actually been amazing. But I'm not sure anyone even cares now and the chances of getting anything non Brexit related through are almost zero.

[AlfredDoggyPooch]

@MrsMaiselsMuff Totally agree with everything you've said

[Babymamamama]

Sorry but the descriptions made by this guest poster are pure fantasy. It is well know the CSA service if you can call it that is completely shambolic. I’ve had the misfortune to try to help a friend navigate this quagmire. Shame on Mumsnet for allowing this kind of PR rubbish to be spouted. What a joke. And remember it’s mainly children and mothers who suffer while men are getting away with it. Thanks to bureaucratic ineptitude on a monstrous scale. I wish panorama would do an investigation or employees would start whistle blowing. This needs exposing. Please Mumsnet do your due diligence and don’t take us for fools.

[Graphista]

"and reflects how much they’d pay for their child if they were living with them" complete and utter nonsense! No parent with care pays a mere 16% of their income on their child.

"But, in most cases, our trained staff have the right level of understanding and expertise to help you" not my experience at all

"Is this for real MN? It's like some tacky PR exercise from the DWP."
Agreed

My ex was not rigorously pursued. He was in the armed forces and they dragged their heels as much as they could get away with in not giving cms the information required. It's a well known issue. Cms seemed completely unaware of how the forces operate on even a basic level.

Then when he left the forces the cms did not check and apparently your IT systems are for some reason NOT linked with income tax systems (which in my opinion they should be!) so it wasn't until I saw a sm post that made me suspect he'd found a new job (he was telling cms he was unemployed) and said to someone at cms and insisted they check with income tax dept. This is when they discovered he was in full time employment and had been for several months (iirc almost a year) but he had not informed them.

It is incredibly naive and foolish to rely on the honesty of nrps. There are too many of them that will do all they can to avoid paying.

I was a single parent under both csa and cms and cms is no better than csa was.

My ex worked out fairly early on (after almost 3 years of paying nothing at the beginning by simply refusing to complete and return the forms, even though I told the csa all the info they needed to pursue him they didn't bother) that if he paid a "nominal" sum roughly every 3 months and "promised" the csa/cms he was going to be a good boy now and pay every month then they wouldn't bother even trying to pursue him for payment.

After 14 years of this nonsense I was transferred to the cms and assured that he would not be getting away with such behaviour any more, except of course he did and he was allowed to. More calls from me eventually resulted in a detachment of earnings order, at which point he threatened to quit his job to avoid paying, he was told what he should be paying could be deducted from his taxable forces pension. So for a few months there was a deduction from earnings but then my daughter left school and was deemed not to be a child any more (even though she was still under 18) and cms basically washed their hands of the whole mess.

I've calculated that from what he should have paid and didn't he really still owes £1000's but nobody will pursue recovering that debt now dd is over 18.

So...thanks for nothing really.

The service CAN implement all those sanctions the problem is they WON'T, they give non paying nrps far far too many chances.

I also agree with a pp that reducing the amount they are supposed to pay (when it's already a pittance) because they either acquire stepchildren or have more children is out of order.

RP's do not get to spend less on older children because they want more DC, children don't need less food or clothes because their absent parent chooses to have more children.

It's particularly galling in the case of step children as the nrp has no legal, financial obligation to provide for them and certainly should not be doing so to the detriment of their biological or adopted children. Those children should be covered by their own biological or adoptive parents.

What you should do is:

Link cm directly to income tax

Deduct at source just as income tax and NI is

Stop automatically believing people with no proof.

Stop being so soft on non payers - allowing them several months to pay up is ridiculous

Close the loopholes on job hopping and self employment

Actually use the sanctions you have available.

If a parent with care has to pursue maintenance via the CMS, there's a good chance the NRP is a deadbeat parent, who dodges paying maintenance and prioritises their own needs and lifestyle over their children's.

Spot on! Decent paying nrps don't NEED the rp to get cms involved!

"It seems clear to me that RP should be paid direct by CMS and then CMS recover the money from the NRP. I bet CMS would all of a sudden throw a lot more money at recovery then!" Yep! They wouldn't write off arrears either!

"I also feel that's why they won't enforce it. Because if that TRULY worked, then benefits could be offset against maintenance. But as they simply can't enforce, this will never be the case." Actually it used to be. First few years after my split I was under this system and the result was me having to go without food and clothes. That's why it was changed because they were so useless at getting nrps to pay. But if the nrp paid a small amount it was assumed it was all being paid and the full calculation deducted from benefits penny for penny.

This post is actually quite insulting to all the RP's who've had to deal with this nonsense.

[SofiaAmes]

What a load of bollocks. Just because you say it's so, doesn't make it so and certainly doesn't make it true for those of us who have collected absolutely nothing through the incompetent agency you call the CSA. You can keep pretending to yourself that everything is ok, but we are here to say that it isn't. I gave your agency the address, property deed, nhs number, business website, business address, phone numbers and car reg for my ex, but still they "couldn't find him."

[Sparkles51]

The debt the inept Government wiped was not theirs to wipe, so now millions of single parents are left struggling due to missing CM payments. The Government should be paying those wiped payments direct to RP, i guarantee if this were to happen, they would soon find the missing parent.

[PrettyPurse]

I'm disgusted that Mumset has even allowed this complete bullshit to appear on here. Unless of course it is feeding back to the Baroness our comments. If not it's just stirred up a lot of anger for absolutely no purpose

[RamsayBoltonsConscience]

Absolute rubbish! My ex is hiding from the CMS using old addresses and never using his current address. I've told them EXACTLY where he is but they won't serve a court order as they can't verify an address.

[RamsayBoltonsConscience]

Posted too soon! He still has a passport and has made multiple trips abroad in the last few years!

[Babymamamama]

I wonder if Mumsnet are going to ask the Baroness to come and address this misinformation. Otherwise I think this guest post should be rescinded. We need facts not fiction on this website if it’s going to be any help to mothers after all.

[surlycurly]

The last time I got the CMS involved because I knew my ex's earnings had gone up it resulted in my payments coming down! He's self employed and when I said to them that he was actually paid about £90k but only claiming a £30k income and they could check at source, they told me to go to HMRC and get him done for tax fraud. Meanwhile he still pays virtually nothing to the government or his kids despite his huge income and he gets away with it! Your agency knows this goes on to the point that they have protocol for it. Hardly imbues hope now does it? And he lives the life of Riley and I'm worrying myself sick about how I'm going to pay for Christmas. Useless, useless agency.

[MissB83]

I assume this is meant to be some kind of comedy post but it's failed because the subject matter is not really a good one for laughs when it comes to your child/ren going without.