Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the CMS to take into account how it protects and supports Gender Equality.

The CMS aims to provide a high-quality service to all of its parents. It treats parents equally as individuals based on their roles within the scheme and makes no reference to gender. The department has a specific duty to assess the impact of proposed policies and services and any changes to them on equality. This ensures the department meets the Public Sector Equality Duty.

The Child Maintenance Service supports separated parents regardless of gender, and we are taking forward reforms designed to improve the service for all parents who use it. Removing Direct Pay will mean the CMS monitors and transfers payments, allowing it to identify missed payments and intervene earlier, while reducing the need for parents to pursue payments themselves. It will also reduce unwanted contact between parents, strengthening protections for victims and survivors of domestic abuse.

We are strengthening our support for victim/survivors, for example by making it easier for parents to switch to the Collect and Pay service through our improvements to the ‘change to service type’ process. The CMS also continues to review its domestic abuse training on a 6 monthly basis and as part of the current review, the CMS welcomed 21 representatives from 17 external organisations to Insight Gathering Workshops to ensure the learning resources reflect frontline expertise, lived experience and insights from external partners.

Alongside these reforms, we will improve the support available to parents considering a family-based arrangement, helping them understand their options and choose an arrangement that works best for their circumstances.