Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential for non-resident parents with irregular variable income to abuse the Child Maintenance Service dispute system and avoid paying children maintenance.

Having access to income information from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) allows the Child Maintenance Service to capture a much wider range of income types received by paying parents. In addition to a parent’s gross annual income, we can capture income derived from property, savings and investments (including dividends) and other miscellaneous income. This unearned income can be included in the calculation if a request is made to vary the calculation. In December 2018 we introduced new powers which also enable us to target complex earners by a calculation of notional income based on their assets.

Cases involving complex income or suspected fraudulent behaviour can be looked into by the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU). This is a specialist team which can request information from financial institutions to check the accuracy of information the Child Maintenance Service is given. When an investigation finds evidence of criminality, the FIU will seek to prosecute or forward to HMRC for consideration of fraud action.