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 adequacy of the existing legislative powers available to the Child Maintenance Service to assist in recovery of maintenance arrears from self-employed paying parents.

The Child Maintenance Service has robust enforcement measures in place to try and recover arrears, including powers to deduct from a wide range of bank accounts, seizing goods, forcing the sale of a property and disqualification from driving or commitment to prison.

Enforcement actions are considered on a case by case basis, using powers that have the greatest chance of securing money for children.