Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has plans to undertake a review of the enforcement powers of the Child Maintenance Service.

Effective, consistent enforcement is crucial to making sure that Child Maintenance arrangements hold, and deliver the best outcomes for children. My Department already has a range of enforcement powers at its disposal, including the ability to deduct directly from a non-resident parent’s earnings and bank accounts; the use of enforcement agents to take control of goods; and forcing the sale of the non-resident parent’s property.

Following consultation earlier this year, my department recently laid regulations to support our new compliance and arrears strategy. Alongside making more effective use of existing enforcement powers, these regulations will allow the Child Maintenance Service to make deductions from joint and business accounts; and to apply to the courts to disqualify non-compliant paying parents from holding a passport, where appropriate.