Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what processes the Child Maintenance Service has in place to verify claims of financial hardship made by paying parents when arrears repayment schedules are extended beyond the two-year debt steer principle.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) operates on the principle that both parents have financial responsibility for their child, including their food and clothing, as well as contributing towards the associated costs of running the home that the child lives in.

When a paying parent does not make maintenance payments on time or in full, the CMS will initially negotiate a payment that is feasible for the parent to pay considering the individual circumstances of each case.

The Debt Steer provides a policy-based framework for arrears negotiation. Its purpose is to ensure arrears are collected as promptly and reliably as possible taking into account all relevant circumstances.

After investigating the paying parent’s circumstances and financial situation discretion can be applied to negotiate an arrangement that extends beyond a two-year period, providing it is a reliable and consistent plan for the recovery of arrears.

When the CMS makes a discretionary decision, caseworkers must consider the welfare of any child affected by that decision.

If this is unsuccessful and the paying parent is employed, the CMS can request that ongoing child maintenance payments be deducted directly from their salary by issuing what we call a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO). The CMS also has powers to deduct maintenance from a wide range of bank accounts including joint and business accounts.

If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures including order for sale where it can apply to the courts for the sale of the paying parent’s assets or property, removing driving licences, disqualification of passports and committal to prison.