Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 4 June (HL7640), what additional steps they are taking to safeguard victim-survivors of domestic abuse on 'direct pay' ahead of their response to their consultation on "Child Maintenance: Improving the collection and transfer of payments".

The CMS takes the issue of domestic abuse very seriously and is committed to ensuring victims and survivors of abuse get the help and support they need to use the CMS safely.

The CMS has substantially strengthened its procedures and processes to support customers who are experiencing domestic abuse. They will not be complacent and will always look at ways to go even further.

The CMS has refreshed its approach and understanding of domestic abuse to include financial and coercive control and better awareness of how abuse affects all genders.

The CMS has access to a list of resources which helps caseworkers provide signposting to supporting organisations, and a Domestic Abuse Plan which includes clear steps to follow in order to support customers who are experiencing abuse. The list of resources and Domestic Abuse Plan is regularly reviewed.

As well as the Domestic Abuse Plan, the CMS responds to cases involving domestic abuse in several ways, including by acting as an intermediary in Direct Pay cases, and providing advice on how to set up bank accounts with a centralised sort code to limit the risk of a parent’s location being traced.

The CMS has a specialist team in place who deliver targeted support to parents subject to the most challenging and complex domestic abuse.

The CMS have also substantially reduced the time it takes to move a case from Direct Pay to Collect and Pay when a receiving parent reports missed payments