Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to allow the Child Maintenance Service to use Child Support Agency assessments to inform its work.

Financial information used to calculate a liability within the child maintenance scheme comes directly from HMRC. This is faster and more accurate than relying on the Child Support Agency (CSA) assessment method of self reported income. Variation is available where parents believe there are additional factors that should be taken in to account. Where information held by the CSA is relevant to the likelihood of the liability being paid, for example if the case is subject to enforcement action, the Child Maintenance Service can take this into account when considering the arrangement by which future maintenance should be paid.