Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many child maintenance cases via Direct Pay have been found to have overpayments; and how many of those cases her Department has agreed to reimburse.

It may be helpful to explain when our customers opt to use the Direct Pay service and a balance of unpaid child maintenance accrues or an overpayment occurs, normally they need to make repayment arrangements between themselves.

However, where this action has failed and the paying parent has made a request, the Child Maintenance Service has issued 37 reimbursements for Direct Pay cases, since 2018 where overpayments occurred.