The House of Commons Library has published a useful collation of recent statistics relating to child maintenance.

In the most recent statistics which cover the 2022/23 financial year, the Department for Work and Pensions estimated there were 2.4 million separated families in Great Britain, and 3.8 million children living in separated families.

Around 59 per cent of separated families were estimated to have a child maintenance arrangement. The Child Maintenance Service was the sole organiser of maintenance for around 16 per cent of separated families. In the quarter ending March 2024, there were around 658,000 paying parents on Child Maintenance Service arrangements. For the same quarter, there were around 986,000 children covered.

Of the arrangements on collect and pay (as opposed to direct pay), 69 per cent of parents contributed a form of payment in the quarter ending March 2024. The DWP defines this as compliance.

For the direct pay service, there is less information on how these arrangements work in practice after the initial calculation. The DWP conducted a survey of direct pay users between 2017 and 2019. It found three months after a direct pay calculation, 85 per cent of parents with care said they either had or were setting up a child maintenance arrangement. This fell to 81 per cent after 13 months from the calculation.

A consultation by the DWP in relation to child maintenance, launched in May 2024, has recently been extended to 30 September 2024. The extension coincides with the launch by the government of the Child Poverty Taskforce.

The proposals subject to consultation include:

• Stopping the Direct Pay service and deal with all cases via Collect and Pay with CMS collecting and transferring all payments. This would allow the CMS to tackle non-compliance faster and, when necessary, take enforcement action more quickly.
• Exploring the best way to support family-based arrangements with an enhanced calculation tool, along with signposting to conflict resolution support.
• Asking how the CMS can better support victims of domestic or economic abuse, building on recommendations from Dr Samantha Callan’s 2023 Independent Review of the Child Maintenance Service.

For the HoC Library briefing, click here. For the consultation document, click here. For details of the Child Poverty Taskforce, click here.

News Editor: Martin West

29/8/24