Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of decreases in levels of spending welfare on the capacity of the Household Support Fund.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Social security spending is forecast to increase. We are providing £742 million in England to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. And we secured the first ever multi-year settlement for the HSF – now the Crisis & Resistance Fund - until 2029 to give councils certainty over funding. This will ensure vulnerable households in the most need can continue to access support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food. We have shared guidance and documentation ahead of the launch of the scheme, arranged and facilitated a series of Delivery Plan Drop-in and LA Knowledge Share sessions, to support LAs with completing Delivery Plans and with planning for the new scheme. No further assessment has been made.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to review the financial support available to carers whose role ends due to the death of a disabled adult child; and if she will introduce (a) a bereavement payment or (b) extended support for long-term carers in such circumstances.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Entitlement to Carer's Allowance in England and Wales can continue for up to eight weeks following the death of the disabled person who was being cared for. If the carer is in receipt of Universal Credit, entitlement continues for the next two full monthly assessment periods following the assessment period in which the Disabled Person dies (a maximum of 13 weeks).
These run-on periods support carers who have recently been bereaved by giving them some time to adapt to their new circumstances.
Within DWP there are a range of employment support programmes available to people who are or have been providing care. Support offered can include access to skills provision, referral to Restart careers advice, job search support, volunteering opportunities and access to the Flexible Support Fund to aid job entry.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many mandatory reconsiderations of an initial child maintenance calculation have resulted in no change to the assessment in each of the last five years; and what the average time taken was for those child maintenance payments to be put in place.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
A Mandatory Reconsideration is where a parent has asked the Child Maintenance Service to reconsider a decision. It is a process that must be completed before the right to appeal to an independent tribunal with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service.
A Mandatory Reconsideration can be requested during the lifetime of a case or when a new application is made, for Child Maintenance and the application is unsuccessful.
Where the Child Maintenance Service finds the original decision to be incorrect or if the parent has supplied more information the decision can change.
The full information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service and the latest statistics are currently available to December 2024. Table 9 of the latest National tables provides the total number of mandatory reconsideration requests received by the CMS and the outcomes occurring each quarter, from April 2015 to December 2024. Data from Table 9 for January 2020 to December 2024 is shown in the following table:
Mandatory Reconsiderations: the number of requests received by the Child Maintenance Service to reconsider a decision, and the outcomes occurring each quarter, Great Britain, January 2020 to December 2024
Quarter | Received | Cleared: | Cleared: | Cleared: | Number Cleared Within 28 Days of Receipt | Percentage Cleared Within 28 Days of Receipt (%) |
Jan to Mar 2020 | 12,000 | 3,200 | 4,400 | 9,400 | 7,800 | 83% |
Apr to Jun 2020 | 6,200 | 3,000 | 3,200 | 7,500 | 3,000 | 40% |
Jul to Sep 2020 | 9,900 | 2,500 | 3,300 | 7,500 | 5,600 | 74% |
Oct to Dec 2020 | 11,700 | 2,700 | 4,100 | 9,300 | 5,200 | 56% |
Jan to Mar 2021 | 15,700 | 4,200 | 5,500 | 12,900 | 6,800 | 53% |
Apr to Jun 2021 | 16,200 | 5,000 | 6,400 | 14,500 | 9,000 | 62% |
Jul to Sep 2021 | 17,100 | 5,500 | 8,100 | 17,700 | 11,900 | 68% |
Oct to Dec 2021 | 17,600 | 5,700 | 7,300 | 16,700 | 13,000 | 78% |
Jan to Mar 2022 | 19,300 | 5,400 | 7,300 | 16,600 | 12,600 | 76% |
Apr to Jun 2022 | 14,700 | 4,300 | 7,300 | 14,200 | 9,600 | 68% |
Jul to Sep 2022 | 14,600 | 3,700 | 7,500 | 13,800 | 9,900 | 71% |
Oct to Dec 2022 | 14,500 | 4,700 | 7,900 | 15,500 | 11,300 | 73% |
Jan to Mar 2023 | 16,300 | 4,300 | 7,200 | 14,300 | 11,800 | 82% |
Apr to Jun 2023 | 21,900 | 4,000 | 7,200 | 14,400 | 11,100 | 77% |
Jul to Sep 2023 | 13,900 | 4,000 | 7,300 | 14,500 | 11,200 | 78% |
Oct to Dec 2023 | 13,800 | 3,700 | 6,000 | 12,400 | 10,000 | 80% |
Jan to Mar 2024 | 17,200 | 4,000 | 7,100 | 14,100 | 11,100 | 78% |
Apr to Jun 2024 | 17,800 | 4,300 | 8,500 | 16,000 | 11,900 | 74% |
Jul to Sep 2024 | 21,800 | 5,700 | 11,400 | 20,700 | 16,400 | 79% |
Oct to Dec 2024 | 21,800 | 6,200 | 11,900 | 21,800 | 18,100 | 83% |
Source: Child Maintenance Service Management Information
Notes
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests for a mandatory reconsideration have been made by parents who have been instructed to pay child maintenance following an initial maintenance calculation in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
A Mandatory Reconsideration is where a parent has asked the Child Maintenance Service to reconsider a decision. It is a process that must be completed before the right to appeal to an independent tribunal with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service.
A Mandatory Reconsideration can be requested during the lifetime of a case or when a new application is made, for Child Maintenance and the application is unsuccessful.
Where the Child Maintenance Service finds the original decision to be incorrect or if the parent has supplied more information the decision can change.
The full information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service and the latest statistics are currently available to December 2024. Table 9 of the latest National tables provides the total number of mandatory reconsideration requests received by the CMS and the outcomes occurring each quarter, from April 2015 to December 2024. Data from Table 9 for January 2020 to December 2024 is shown in the following table:
Mandatory Reconsiderations: the number of requests received by the Child Maintenance Service to reconsider a decision, and the outcomes occurring each quarter, Great Britain, January 2020 to December 2024
Quarter | Received | Cleared: | Cleared: | Cleared: | Number Cleared Within 28 Days of Receipt | Percentage Cleared Within 28 Days of Receipt (%) |
Jan to Mar 2020 | 12,000 | 3,200 | 4,400 | 9,400 | 7,800 | 83% |
Apr to Jun 2020 | 6,200 | 3,000 | 3,200 | 7,500 | 3,000 | 40% |
Jul to Sep 2020 | 9,900 | 2,500 | 3,300 | 7,500 | 5,600 | 74% |
Oct to Dec 2020 | 11,700 | 2,700 | 4,100 | 9,300 | 5,200 | 56% |
Jan to Mar 2021 | 15,700 | 4,200 | 5,500 | 12,900 | 6,800 | 53% |
Apr to Jun 2021 | 16,200 | 5,000 | 6,400 | 14,500 | 9,000 | 62% |
Jul to Sep 2021 | 17,100 | 5,500 | 8,100 | 17,700 | 11,900 | 68% |
Oct to Dec 2021 | 17,600 | 5,700 | 7,300 | 16,700 | 13,000 | 78% |
Jan to Mar 2022 | 19,300 | 5,400 | 7,300 | 16,600 | 12,600 | 76% |
Apr to Jun 2022 | 14,700 | 4,300 | 7,300 | 14,200 | 9,600 | 68% |
Jul to Sep 2022 | 14,600 | 3,700 | 7,500 | 13,800 | 9,900 | 71% |
Oct to Dec 2022 | 14,500 | 4,700 | 7,900 | 15,500 | 11,300 | 73% |
Jan to Mar 2023 | 16,300 | 4,300 | 7,200 | 14,300 | 11,800 | 82% |
Apr to Jun 2023 | 21,900 | 4,000 | 7,200 | 14,400 | 11,100 | 77% |
Jul to Sep 2023 | 13,900 | 4,000 | 7,300 | 14,500 | 11,200 | 78% |
Oct to Dec 2023 | 13,800 | 3,700 | 6,000 | 12,400 | 10,000 | 80% |
Jan to Mar 2024 | 17,200 | 4,000 | 7,100 | 14,100 | 11,100 | 78% |
Apr to Jun 2024 | 17,800 | 4,300 | 8,500 | 16,000 | 11,900 | 74% |
Jul to Sep 2024 | 21,800 | 5,700 | 11,400 | 20,700 | 16,400 | 79% |
Oct to Dec 2024 | 21,800 | 6,200 | 11,900 | 21,800 | 18,100 | 83% |
Source: Child Maintenance Service Management Information
Notes
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests by parents to move their cases to collect and pay following the failure of the other parent to make a child maintenance payment in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
A principle of The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is to increase levels of cooperation between separated parents and encourage parents to meet their responsibilities to provide their children with financial support.
The CMS has two service types: Direct Pay, where it calculates a liability and allows parents to make their own arrangements to pay; and Collect and Pay, where it calculates the liability and administers the transaction. Legislation requires that both parents are given the opportunity to try Direct Pay unless the paying parent demonstrates an unwillingness to pay their maintenance liability. When this happens, a parent can request a move to Collect and Pay service.
The full information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service and the latest statistics are currently available to December 2024. Table 3 of the latest National tables provides the number of arrangements moving from one service type to another within the CMS each quarter, from October 2015 to December 2024.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on how many occasions the Child Maintenance Service has (a) taken criminal action against and (b) successfully prosecuted a parent who has knowingly provided false information to reduce their financial assessment in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The primary goal of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is to ensure that children receive the financial support they are entitled to. To achieve this, the CMS collaborates with HMRC and Benefit systems to accurately calculate maintenance payments. This collaboration helps prevent paying parents from misrepresenting their income.
The Financial Investigations Unit (FIU), investigate complex income cases. This is a specialist team with extensive investigative powers to ensure that families receive child maintenance appropriately and in accordance with the paying parent’s whole income. They can request information from financial institutions such as banks, investment companies and mortgage companies to check the accuracy of information the CMS is given by either parent.
If necessary, criminal charges relating to information offences linked to the calculation, will be brought against those who persistently and deliberately evade their responsibility to provide financially for their children.
The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service and the latest statistics are currently available to December 2024. Table 7 of the latest National tables provides information where the CMS applied to courts to sanction Paying Parents, from July 2019 to December 2024.
The specific information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times the Child Maintenance Service allowed a parent paying child maintenance with a (a) payment history of less than six months and (b) record of missed payments or arrears to move from a Collect and Pay DEO to Direct Debit in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will do everything it can to address the nonpayment of child maintenance. Where payments have defaulted, we use our enforcement powers fairly and quickly to get cases back into payment.
The Department publishes quarterly Child Maintenance Service (CMS) statistics, with the latest statistics available to the end of December 2024 here. Table 4 contains information on the amount of child maintenance that Paying parents have paid, and are expected to pay, each quarter.
Information on the method of payments used by Paying Parents and Collect and Pay compliance can be found on Stat Xplore
The full information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many parents who made a request to move from a deduction from earnings order to direct debit subsequently defaulted on their child maintenance payments in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will do everything it can to address the nonpayment of child maintenance. Where payments have defaulted, we use our enforcement powers fairly and quickly to get cases back into payment.
The Department publishes quarterly Child Maintenance Service (CMS) statistics, with the latest statistics available to the end of December 2024 here. Table 4 contains information on the amount of child maintenance that Paying parents have paid, and are expected to pay, each quarter.
Information on the method of payments used by Paying Parents and Collect and Pay compliance can be found on Stat Xplore
The full information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was contributed to the running of the Child Maintenance Service from (a) Government funding and (b) the (i) 4% contribution from parents receiving and (ii) 20% contribution from parents paying child maintenance through a collect-and-pay deduction from earnings order in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The summary table below shows the response to the PQ ask.
| CMS Actual spend |
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£m | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Net cost - Government funded | 146.2 | 115.1 | 120.7 | 104.1 | 115.9 |
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Paying Parent (PP) & Receiving Parent (RP) Fee Income - £m | 41.6 | 40.9 | 46.0 | 49.3 | 57.6 |
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PP & RP Fee Income detail: | £m | £m | £m | £m | £m |
Paying Parent Fee 20% | 34.8 | 34.2 | 38.5 | 41.3 | 48.2 |
Receiving Parent Fee 4% | 6.8 | 6.7 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 9.4 |
Total Income | 41.6 | 40.9 | 46.0 | 49.3 | 57.6 |
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Data is sourced from DWP internal management accounts used for internal financial management and reporting only.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many compensation payments the Child Maintenance Service has made to parents following complaints from (a) parents and (b) MPs in relation to the service received by those parents in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.