Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Maintenance Service decisions have been revised, overturned, or amended following mandatory reconsideration or appeal since 1 January 2020; and what proportion of those cases resulted in a reduction of child maintenance liabilities.

The Department is committed to ensuring that Child Maintenance Service (CMS) decisions are made in a timely, accurate and fair manner, based on all relevant information provided by parents.

A Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) is the process by which a parent asks the CMS to review a decision. An MR may be requested at any stage during the lifetime of a case or following an unsuccessful application for child maintenance. Either parent can ask for an MR, but both parents will be asked to provide any information or evidence that they feel is relevant.

Where the CMS determines that the original decision was incorrect, or where additional relevant information is provided by a parent, the decision may be revised.

This process must be completed before a parent can appeal an appealable CMS decision to an independent tribunal administered by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service.

The Department publishes quarterly Child Maintenance Service (CMS) official statistics. Table 9 of the latest National tables includes information on the total number of mandatory reconsideration requests received by the CMS and the outcomes occurring each quarter, and the number and percentage cleared within 28 days of receipt, from quarter ending April 2015 to quarter ending March 2026.

Table 10 of the latest National tables includes information on the total number of appeals made by parents to His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service to review a decision made by the CMS and the outcomes each quarter, from quarter ending April 2015 to quarter ending March 2026.

Information on the proportion of cases resulting in a reduction in child maintenance liability is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.