Child Maintenance Service Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Work and Pensions
Graham Stringer
Main Page: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Middleton South)Department Debates - View all Graham Stringer's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(1 day, 16 hours ago)
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Kirith Entwistle
Absolutely; it is just another vehicle being used by perpetrators to continue that post-separation abuse.
At its heart, this debate is about the lives of children growing up in separated families across the country. The child maintenance service was created with the intention of supporting those children, but when the system allows post-separation abuse to continue, when it leaves survivors feeling unheard and unsafe, and when children are drawn into that harm, it is clear that reform is urgently needed. The question we must ask ourselves is simple: can we honestly continue with a system that allows children to be weaponised by perpetrators of abuse? I do not believe that we can.
Graham Stringer (in the Chair)
I will call Vikki Slade, but I want to hear from the Minister because this is an important debate. I am going to restrict the hon. Lady to two minutes.