Business of the House

Debate between Alan Campbell and Dave Doogan

Thursday 20th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

I thank my hon. Friend for her tireless campaigning on this topic. As she knows, the Government are committed to reducing the number of lives lost to suicide, which remains the biggest killer of men under 50. We have announced investment in suicide prevention projects for men as part of the first ever men’s health strategy for England. Her concerns will be shared across the House, so I suggest that she call for a Westminster Hall debate.

[Dave Doogan (Angus and Perthshire Glens) (SNP)]

I do not understand the mindset of an absent parent who tries to renege on their financial responsibility to support their children. Nor, it seems, does the Child Maintenance Service, because one of the manifold issues with that service is that absent parents renege on payments —starting and stopping payments again and again—and the CMS resets the clock every time, meaning that the receiving parent has to start from the very beginning. Might we have a debate in Government time on the manifold issues with the CMS, to find a way forward for that deeply dysfunctional agency?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

I will draw the hon. Member’s comments to the attention of Ministers, because, as he will have heard, that is the second time the matter has been raised this afternoon. He may wish to initiate such a debate, because, as I suggested before, his concerns are shared across the House.