Call for Evidence

Background

As of March 2024, there were estimated to be 3.8 million children living in separated families. [1] A child maintenance arrangement is required for all children under the age of 16 living in separated families. However, only around 59% of families have any form of child maintenance agreement.[2] Where parents cannot create their own private child maintenance agreement, they can access the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). The CMS is the Government run service which can calculate, facilitate, and if necessary collect, child maintenance payments between parents.

According to the Department of Work and Pensions there is £654m in unpaid child maintenance to June 2024,[3] with arrears estimated to reach £1bn by 2031 according to the National Audit Office.[4] A significant number of parents, and therefore children, are missing potentially vital payments which can have a significant impact on children’s welfare. [5]

This inquiry seeks to examine the barriers to making child maintenance arrangements through the CMS and why many separated families do not have any form of arrangement. Secondly, we want to explore how arrangements made through the Child Maintenance Service can be more effectively enforced.  

Questions

The Committee is seeking evidence in response to the following questions. It is not necessary to answer all the questions. Short submissions are preferred. A submission longer than six pages should include a one-page summary. 

Establishing child maintenance arrangements

1. How effectively does the Government support separated families to have functional child maintenance arrangements, including both arrangements made through the Child Maintenance Service and family-based arrangements? How could this be improved?

2. What are the causes of separated families not having any child maintenance arrangements in place?

3. What is the impact of problems in child maintenance arrangements, particularly on children in poverty? What is the impact and costs to wider society?

4.What support services and systems are available to families to help them make child maintenance arrangements? Please consider both local and national support, and support offered by bodies other than national government.

Child Maintenance Service (CMS)

5. How effective is the CMS in creating fair child maintenance arrangements, and offering ongoing support?

6. How effectively does the CMS work with other public services such as social security and HMRC to determine effective child maintenance arrangements?

7. How effectively does CMS identify and combat underpayment of child maintenance caused by fraud, or assets and income being hidden by paying parents?

8. How could the CMS work with the wider DWP and other departments and bodies to address child poverty? How could this be improved?

Enforcement

9. How effectively is the Child Maintenance Service enforcing child maintenance arrangements? How could enforcement on paying parents who fail to pay child maintenance be improved?

10. Does the Child Maintenance Service have the powers it needs to effectively enforce arrangements? Does it use the powers it has effectively?

11. How does the service work with other public service such as the courts, HMRC and other services to aid enforcement of arrangements?

Legislation

12. What legislative changes might improve the child maintenance system?

[1] Separated families statistics: April 2014 to March 2023 - GOV.UK

[2] Separated families statistics: April 2014 to March 2023 - GOV.UK (41% of families have no arrangement, formal or informal)

[3] HoC Library Briefing (October 2024)

[4] Child maintenance (Summary) (NAO, 2022)

ANNEX: GUIDANCE FOR SUBMISSIONS 

Written evidence should be submitted by clicking the “Start” button below. This page also provides guidance on submitting evidence.  

If you have difficulty submitting evidence online, please contact the Committee staff by email to hlpublicservices@parliament.uk. The deadline for written evidence is 23:59 on Wednesday 23 April 2025. 

Short submissions are preferred. A submission longer than six pages should include a one-page summary. 

Paragraphs should be numbered. All submissions made through the written submission form will be acknowledged automatically by email.  

Evidence which is accepted by the Committee may be published online at any stage; when it is so published it becomes subject to parliamentary copyright and is protected by parliamentary privilege. Submissions which have been previously published will not be accepted as evidence. Once you have received acknowledgement that the evidence has been accepted you will receive a further email, and at this point you may publicise or publish your evidence yourself. In doing so you must indicate that it was prepared for the Committee, and you should be aware that your publication or re-publication of your evidence may not be protected by parliamentary privilege. 

Personal contact details will be removed from evidence before publication, but will be retained by the Committee Office and used for specific purposes relating to the Committee’s work, for instance to seek additional information.  

Persons who submit written evidence, and others, may be invited to give oral evidence. Oral evidence is usually given in public at Westminster and broadcast online; transcripts are also taken and published online. Persons invited to give oral evidence will be notified separately of the procedure to be followed and the topics likely to be discussed. 

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Substantive communications to the Committee about the inquiry should be addressed through the clerk of the Committee, whether or not they are intended to constitute formal evidence to the Committee. 

This is a public call for evidence. Please bring it to the attention of other groups and individuals who may not have received a copy direct. 

Diversity comes in many forms and hearing a range of different perspectives means that committees are better informed and can more effectively scrutinise public policy and legislation. Committees can undertake their role most effectively when they hear from a wide range of individuals, sectors or groups in society affected by a particular policy or piece of legislation. We encourage anyone with experience or expertise of an issue under investigation by a select committee to share their views with the committee, with the full knowledge that their views have value and are welcome. 

You may follow the progress of the inquiry at https://committees.parliament.uk/work/9004/child-maintenance/.