Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of arrears owed through the Child Maintenance Service; and how much in arrears was collected in each of the last three years.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has a strong range of enforcement powers to address non-compliance, including deductions from earnings and bank accounts, the use of Enforcement Agents, disqualification from driving, passport disqualification, and committal to prison in the most serious cases.

But the Government is not complacent and has a comprehensive reform programme planned. It has confirmed its intention to remove Direct Pay and move to a single, strengthened Collect and Pay service.

There are also plans to introduce Administrative Liability Orders. These will replace the current requirement for the CMS to apply to the court for a liability order. Introducing a simpler administrative process will enable the CMS to take faster action against those paying parents who actively avoid their responsibilities and will get money to children more quickly.

These changes combined will enable the CMS to monitor all payments, identify missed or partial payments more quickly, and take faster enforcement action.

We can confirm that in the year ending June 2026, the CMS collected £235.4 million in current maintenance and arrears through civil and administrative enforcement action, the highest amount recorded, compared with £202.1 million in the year ending June 2025 and £173.1 million in the year ending June 2024. In addition, only 7% of all maintenance that has been arranged since the launch of the 2012 scheme remains to be collected through Collect and Pay.