Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what provision he has made for the enforcement of child maintenance payment orders where the subject of the order is a director of a private limited company and receives their income payments in dividends.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Where a paying parent becomes the Director of their limited liability company, they are legally an employee of that company and are treated the same as any other employee for child maintenance purposes. If the receiving parent believes that the paying parent has additional income as a result of their employment status, for example, dividends they can apply for a variation.
The Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) will look into suspected fraudulent behaviour and check the accuracy of information the CMS is given. There are some paying parents who are determined to avoid their responsibility to pay for their children. These are difficult cases to pursue, however, the CMS will continue to use all available powers and tools to collect what is owed.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will introduce a standardised assessment of affordability of debt repayments for people on benefits.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
DWP remains committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms.
The department has a well-established process for working with individuals to support them to manage their debts. Our agents will always look to negotiate affordable and sustainable repayment plans.
This includes working with individuals to review their financial circumstances and, in most instances, a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment can also be agreed.
There is no minimum amount that a claimant has to pay, and we have recently extended the time period for any reduced repayment to remain in place.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of (a) the adequacy of the standard compensation payment paid to benefits claimants for errors made by his Department and (b) whether that payment always covers the full cost to claimants of errors.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The department’s discretionary special payment scheme allows us to award redress to our customers for the impacts of departmental errors. As the impact may differ, in accordance with each customer’s circumstances, we consider each case on its own merits and any payment made will reflect the individual circumstances. For more details of the scheme, please see the guidance: Financial Redress for Maladministration.