Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons her Department is mandating paying parents to continue paying maintenance under the Child Maintenance Service when they have shared care for their child for more than 50 per cent of the year.

In most cases where care of a child is shared by parents, one parent tends to take a greater share of responsibility for that child. In such cases, it is right that the other parent remains financially liable for supporting their child, although the care they are providing will often result in a low maintenance liability.

Where there is equal day to day care, there will be no requirement to pay maintenance. This reflects the fact that, in these circumstances, both parents are meeting their obligations to their children equally, so there is no need for one to make additional payments of child maintenance.

Parents may choose to make a family based arrangement that works for their individual circumstances without any Child Maintenance Service involvement.