Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests for the child maintenance service's collect and pay service came from (a) resident and (b) non-resident parents in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15, and (iii) 2015-16; and how many children such requests related to in each of those years.

Information on the number of cases using the collect and pay service is only available from August 2014. As at the end of March 2015, 28,600 cases were using the collect and pay service and this figure increased to 51,800 cases as at the end of March 2016.

More details can be found on page 8 of the Child Maintenance Scheme quarterly summary of statistics which can be accessed online at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/564183/child-maintenance-service-2012-scheme-aug-16.pdf

Information on whether the request was made by the resident or the non-resident parent is not routinely collected and can only be provided at a disproportionate cost. Similarly, information on the number of children involved for parents using the Collect and Pay service specifically is not routinely collected and may only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Please note that a case may have more than one child.