Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2023 to Question 183091 on Children: Maintenance, what the average waiting time is between an application to the court and outcome; and whether his Department has set a target on the proportion of applications that result in an outcome.

The Child Maintenance Service has an expectation of a successful outcome in every case we send to the court.

The average clearance between an application to the court and outcome is 16 weeks.