Committees

Child Maintenance

Inquiry

As of March 2024, there were estimated to be 3.8 million children living in separated families. 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. 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’.

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.

 

The report Reforming the Child Maintenance Service was published on 14 October 2025.. The Government response was published on 9 January 2026. The report was debated on 8 June 2026.

This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The deadline for submissions was 11:59pm on 23 April 2025.

Upcoming events

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Past events

Wednesday 23 July 2025
11:00am Private
Private meeting 23 July 2025
Room 4A, Palace of Westminster
Wednesday 16 July 2025
11:00am Private
Private meeting 16 July 2025
Room 2A, Palace of Westminster
Wednesday 25 June 2025
11:00am Public
12:00pm Private
Child Maintenance - Oral evidence 25 June 2025
11:00am
  • Baroness Sherlock OBE (Minister of State at Department of Work and Pensions)
  • Simon Hunter (Director of the Child Maintenance Service at Department for Work and Pensions)
  • Duncan Gilchrist (Deputy Director of Child Maintenance, Policy at Department for Work and Pensions)
  • Chris Smith (Deputy Director of Child Maintenance, Operations at Department of Work and Pensions)
Room 1, Palace of Westminster
Wednesday 11 June 2025
11:00am Private
Private meeting 11 June 2025
Room 2A, Palace of Westminster

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