Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) paying and (b) receiving parents use the Child Maintenance Service Collect and Pay service; and how many (i) paying and (ii) receiving parents will move onto that service as a result of proposed changes.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
As of the end of September 2025, there were 317,100 Receiving Parents and 303,800 Paying Parents using the Collect & Pay service.
It is proposed to reform the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) when Parliamentary time allows to create one streamlined service where the CMS would collect and transfer all maintenance payments.
The precise number of paying and receiving parents who would move into a new streamlined service would depend on a number of factors including the size caseload at the time of implementing the proposed reforms and the choices made by customers.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the freeze in Local Housing Allowance on levels of rough sleeping and homelessness in England.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The causes of rough sleeping and homelessness are multifaceted and are driven by a range of factors, both personal and structural.
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are annually reviewed, usually in the Autumn. At Autumn budget 2025, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions reviewed LHA and announced that rates would be maintained at their current levels for 2026/27. Rent levels across Great Britian were considered alongside other factors such as the challenging fiscal context and welfare priorities, including the removal of the two-child limit which will bring 450,000 children out of poverty.
DWP worked closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on the National Plan to End Homelessness, which is driving sustainable change and addressing the root causes of homelessness and we continue working together with MHCLG and HMT to keep LHA rates under review.
Renters facing a shortfall in meeting their housing costs can apply for discretionary housing support from local authorities.
Asked by: Yuan Yang (Labour - Earley and Woodley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with the Keep Britain Working team on the rate of statutory sick pay.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Sir Charlie Mayfield’s independent Keep Britain Working review report, published on 5 November 2025, aims to tackle health-related economic inactivity, with over one in five working-age adults out of the workforce, substantially because of health problems.
While not the direct focus, Statutory Sick Pay was considered as part of the Keep Britain Working Review, and we will work with the Vanguard employers to explore how to best utilise Occupational Sick Pay to generate the best outcomes for all.
The vanguard phase will consider and make recommendations to government on the incentives needed for employers and employees to deliver better work and health outcomes.
Asked by: Yuan Yang (Labour - Earley and Woodley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether sick pay falls within the scope of the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Taskforce.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Sir Charlie Mayfield’s independent Keep Britain Working review report, published on 5 November 2025, aims to tackle health-related economic inactivity, with over one in five working-age adults out of the workforce, substantially because of health problems.
While not the direct focus, Statutory Sick Pay was considered as part of the Keep Britain Working Review, and we will work with the Vanguard employers to explore how to best utilise Occupational Sick Pay to generate the best outcomes for all.
The vanguard phase will consider and make recommendations to government on the incentives needed for employers and employees to deliver better work and health outcomes.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department last reviewed the Child Maintenance Service’s policy framework for modern shared‑care arrangements; and whether the Service plans to reform its policies on cases where both parents actively share day‑to‑day parenting responsibilities.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government recognises that shared care arrangements can play an important role in supporting children to maintain relationships with both parents after separation.
In the child maintenance system, shared care is reflected in the maintenance calculation. Where a child stays overnight with the paying parent for at least one night a week on average, the amount of maintenance due is reduced to reflect the care provided.
If the Child Maintenance Service is satisfied that both parents have equal day-to-day care for the child, in addition to sharing overnight care, there is no requirement for either parent to pay child maintenance.
Asked by: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total operating expenditure of the Child Maintenance Service was in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The net operating expenditure of the Child Maintenance Service for the financial year 24/25 is £105.7m.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is available through his Department and Jobcentre Plus to help disabled people find suitable part-time employment.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are committed to providing disabled people who want to work with the right support to find employment, including part-time work and self-employment, that meets their specific circumstances and ambitions.
In addition to Work Coach support, our Pathways to Work Advisers provide one-to-one personalised support to disabled customers to help them move towards, and into, work. More than 65,000 people have already chosen to receive support from these advisers over the last year.
Outside of Jobcentre Plus-based support, our voluntary and locally-commissioned, £1bn Connect to Work Supported Employment programme offers specialised employment support to disabled people, those with health conditions and people with complex barriers to employment. The programme provides participants with tailored support, including vocational profiling, finding good job matches and on the job coaching. It will support around 300,000 people across England and Wales by March 2030. We are also expanding the WorkWell programme to cover all of England by autumn 2026, to provide integrated, holistic early help to up to 250,000 people with health-related barriers to work.
The Department for Work and Pensions also works with employers to encourage them to adopt flexible recruitment practices, including reduced-hours roles, alternative shift patterns and other adjustments that make jobs more accessible, including through the use of assistive technology.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of legal oversight and procedural safeguards in the enforcement processes used by the Child Maintenance Service; and if he will review (a) the process by which liability orders and summonses are issued, (b) the accuracy and treatment of historic arrears inherited from the Child Support Agency, and (c) the availability of data on outcomes for paying parents, including mortality rates.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) exists to ensure that children receive the financial support they are entitled to. When parents fail to financially support their children CMS have a range of enforcement powers that are provided for in the 1991 Child Support Act and the Collection and Enforcement regulations 1992. These include applying to the magistrates’ court for a Liability Order which gives formal recognition of debt a paying parent legally owes.
Decisions surrounding which enforcement method to proceed with are carefully considered by caseworkers based on the case circumstances and the welfare of any qualifying children involved. Parents have a right to challenge the decisions taken by the CMS through established dispute and appeal routes.
In 2018 an exercise to close all CSA cases with live liabilities was completed. As part of that, both parents were given the opportunity to challenge case information, including arrears balances, or decide whether the arrears should move to the CMS to be pursued.
The annual Separated Families statistics, in particular section 6, report the estimated financial impact of child maintenance on non-resident parent households, including both Child Maintenance Service (statutory) arrangements and private (non-statutory) arrangements. The quarterly Child Maintenance Service statistics, particularly sections 6 to 9, contain information on the compliance and enforcement of arrangements made via the service. The Department has no plans to publish mortality data or other additional data relating to Paying Parents.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to extend the scope of support for people using heating oil who are not eligible for the Household Support fund or the Crisis and Resilience Fund.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Support for vulnerable households affected by the rising cost of heating oil will be treated as crisis payments under the Crisis and Resilience Fund and as per guidance, local authorities have flexibility to determine eligibility for crisis payments.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish a full timeline for the roll out of the Crisis Resilience Fund and when Local Authorities can start making payments to households.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Crisis and Resilience Fund will come into effect on 1 April in England. In most cases, local authorities will start making payments to households from 1 April. However, they can also provide payments now to specifically support households facing rising oil-heating costs.