Child Maintenance Service users - step this way please! MNHQ here

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

As a part of our campaign with Gingerbread and the Good Law Project to Fix the CMS, we wanted to flag up that the National Audit Office is asking CMS users to fill in this consultation about their experiences.

The NAO is conducting a 'value for money' review of the CMS to find out whether it's meeting its objectives and providing good service, so please do fill in the consultation if you're a CMS user.

[POST EDITED BY MNHQ TO ADD: The NAO has been in touch with the following:

"Thank you also to those who have pointed out that the options we have provided for parents to explain their involvement with the Child Maintenance Service are not clear. Please accept our apologies. In particular, people have pointed out that respondents cannot identify as being entitled to child maintenance but not receiving it, or identify as a parent who is obliged to pay child maintenance but isn’t."

"If you should be receiving child maintenance but are not, please select the option of being ‘A person with main care responsibilities (receiving child maintenance)’. You will be able to tell us later in the survey that you are not receiving the maintenance you are entitled to."

"If you are a parent who is supposed to be paying child maintenance but are not, please select the option of being ‘A person without main care responsibilities (paying child maintenance)’. You will be able to tell us later in the consultation that you are not paying the child maintenance you owe."

"We will also read and use contributions from parents that have already used the “other” category."

"We can’t make changes to the consultation itself, because that would make it difficult to interpret the results we have collected so far. However, we have added additional help text to the survey to make it clearer."]

In addition, Gingerbread have asked whether any CMS users have recent experience of the CMS writing off large sums owed by non-resident parents. If that's happened to you in the last few months we'd like to hear about it.

Thanks
MNHQ

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Hi

I’m the Director at the NAO responsible for our study on the value for money of the Child Maintenance Service.

Please may I extend a large thank you to all those that have already completed our user consultation on the Child Maintenance Service. We will use what you have told us about your experience of the Child Maintenance Service to help us evaluate whether it is providing value for money for the taxpayer, parents and the children of separated families.

Thank you also to those who have pointed out that the options we have provided for parents to explain their involvement with the Child Maintenance Service are not clear. Please accept our apologies. In particular, people have pointed out that respondents cannot identify as being entitled to child maintenance but not receiving it, or identify as a parent who is obliged to pay child maintenance but isn’t.

If you should be receiving child maintenance but are not, please select the option of being ‘A person with main care responsibilities (receiving child maintenance)’. You will be able to tell us later in the survey that you are not receiving the maintenance you are entitled to.

If you are a parent who is supposed to be paying child maintenance but are not, please select the option of being ‘A person without main care responsibilities (paying child maintenance)’. You will be able to tell us later in the consultation that you are not paying the child maintenance you owe.

We will also read and use contributions from parents that have already used the “other” category.

We can’t make changes to the consultation itself, because that would make it difficult to interpret the results we have collected so far. However, we have added additional help text to the survey to make it clearer.

The consultation will be open until the end of July 2021. For anyone who was unclear before about which options to select, this should now make it possible to complete it: Child Maintenance Service (nao.org.uk)

All the best

Joshua

Thanks Joshua. I am glad you are undertaking this consultation.

Many thanks for the input. Our financial consent order says very unusually (and by consent) that whoever the children live with pays for them (and my ex then chose not to have all 5 even one night a year) and that whoever they live with I pay school and university costs (higher earner woman so rare) so even though the consultation is not relevant to me it is still of interest.

I remain amazed anyone can think it is fine never to have their children to stay nor to pay anything but there we are..... I suppose the only way he could hurt me given I gave him so much money on our divorce for a clean break was to refuse to help with or see the children (we both work full time) where as child maintenance tends to have money taken off if the children are with the father for a few nights a week so a similar concept.

Anyway good luck to everyone in trying to ensure men feel utterly ashamed if they do not pay - pity we cannot set up official state websites saying this man has never paid a penny, this man has chosen never to see his children etc etc.

@Xenia

May I ask - what is your children’s relationship with their father like now?

And I am intrigued you think that you gave your ex so much in the divorce agreement.

I’m afraid many many of us in your ex’s position ie the lower income, have heard this said to us many a time

And unless you had a terrible lawyer and he had a kick ass lawyer, and somehow a judge signed off the consent order as being reasonable to bother parties - it’s unlikely that what was agreed was unreasonable.

Ive decided to write to CMS the old fashioned way, recorded post.

I am sick to the back teeth of their blathering.

houseofcommons.shorthandstories.com/child-maintenance-service-/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0EmGI4FRrjzqxirWFZNoChugkoh9d78qInlLfWwztDcmnE5ALbUI0cKXQ

Quick get your opinions into the House of Lords

Sometimes there are 5 children so it's hard to speculate on them all. I expect none are that keen on him. He did go to see one of the girls yesterday for a couple of hours. I have always encouraged contact and tried to explain his good points to them (and bad when relevant). We invited him and he came to the weddings of the 2 who are married including the wedding in April, although they chose to walk down the aisle alone which they wanted.

@grandmashotdoodlebugs

https://houseofcommons.shorthandstories.com/child-maintenance-service-/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0EmGI4FRrjzqxirWFZNoChugkoh9d78qInlLfWwztDcmnE5ALbUI0cKXQ

Quick get your opinions into the House of Lords

Done!