Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what proportion of Child Maintenance Service cases was a contribution made to their current liability (a) in full, (b) in part or (c) not at all (i) paying by Direct Pay and (ii) using the Calculation and Collection service in the last quarter for which figures are available.

i) As shown in the CMS 2012 experimental statistics, at August 2015, 70% of cases are paying by Direct Pay (see table 6.1 which can be accessed online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme-aug-2013-to-aug-2015-experimental).

Direct Pay cases are assumed to be fully meeting their current liability (since clients can come back to the CMS if there is a default on their payment or to request a revised calculation), therefore 100% of Direct Pay cases were assumed to be paying in full.

ii) Information regarding the proportion of cases making a contribution to their current liability via the Calculation and Collection service is not currently available. Contribution towards current liability is reported at case group level because of the way cases are administered on the 2012 system. (see table 4 which can be accessed online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme-aug-2013-to-aug-2015-experimental).

Note:

At August 2015, the overall proportion of Case Groups Contributing towards Current Liability was 88%.