Child Maintenance Service: Standards

(asked on 1st September 2026) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has considered the potential merits of routinely publishing data relating to CMS errors, complaints, system failures, and maladministration; and what assessment he has made of the impact this has on families.


Answered by
Lilian Greenwood Portrait
Lilian Greenwood
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 9th September 2026

The Department publishes quarterly CMS complaints statistics, including the number of complaints received and closed, the proportion upheld or partially upheld, and cases considered by the Independent Case Examiner DWP Complaints Statistics - GOV.UK. . Independent scrutiny is also provided through the Independent Case Examiner's annual reports, which set out findings on maladministration and systemic issues identified through complaints.

Additional statistical data is also published in the Child Maintenance Client Funds Accounts Child maintenance: client funds accounts - GOV.UK.

The Department systematically carries out impact assessments on user groups, including within the CMS. It recognises that service issues may affect customers and uses complaints, feedback and operational performance information to identify issues and improve service delivery.

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