Children: Maintenance

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is estimated to keep around 120,000 children out of poverty each year. CMS acknowledges the significant impact that missed or partial child maintenance payments can have on both children and resident parents.

Changes have been implemented to systems to identify at-risk cases allowing caseworkers to intervene at the earliest opportunity where a partial payment is made and before payments stop.

The CMS has taken steps to strengthen enforcement against non-resident parents who repeatedly fail to meet their child maintenance obligations. These powers allow the CMS to instruct an employer to deduct maintenance directly from the paying parent's wages, take money directly from a paying parent’s bank or building society account. If the paying parent is on certain benefits, deductions can be made at source.

CMS can also apply to the courts for a Liability Order which legally means the debt is legally recognised, allowing CMS to take further enforcement actions such as:

• Bailiff action
• Charging orders on property
• Disqualification from holding a driving licence.
• Committal to prison in extreme cases.

As part of a broader strategy, to ensure consistent financial support for children, the government is reforming the system to eliminate Direct Pay and expand the Collect and Pay service to improve compliance and reduce financial hardship for resident parents and children.