Child Maintenance Service 2024-02-05
2024-02-05
TAGS
Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Partial Answer
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Context
The effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service in collecting child maintenance payments is being questioned due to low payment rates and administrative issues.
What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service in collecting child maintenance payments? Parents who paid some maintenance on the collect and pay service increased from 64% to 69% over the 12 months from September 2022, but my constituent's daughter missed out for more than a year due to her father changing jobs.
Where parents have certain categories of taxable income not being captured by the standard child maintenance calculation, they can make a request to the CMS to have the calculation varied. We have consulted on proposals to include more types of taxable income held by HMRC in the standard maintenance calculation.
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Assessment & feedback
The question specifically asked about chasing up employers but the answer discussed varying calculations and including more types of income.
Response accuracy
Q2
Partial Answer
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Context
The effectiveness and enforcement actions of the Child Maintenance Service are under scrutiny due to missed payments affecting children in separated families.
My constituent's daughter is a young lady who has missed out for more than a year on child maintenance payments because her father changed jobs, causing CMS to lose track. Despite involvement from my team and faffing around, she still hasn't received payment. Will the Minister explain what his Department is doing to ensure employers of missing parents are properly chased up?
Where parents have certain categories of taxable income not being captured by the standard child maintenance calculation, they can make a request to the CMS to have the calculation varied. We have consulted on proposals to include more types of taxable income held by HMRC in the standard maintenance calculation.
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Assessment & feedback
The question specifically asked about chasing up employers but the answer discussed varying calculations and including more types of income.
Response accuracy
Q3
Partial Answer
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Context
The effectiveness of current enforcement measures for child maintenance payments and the status of curfew orders consultation are being questioned.
The Department has several ways to try to get paying parents to cough up, but we still have not had a response to the July 2022 Government consultation on child maintenance and improving our enforcement powers through curfew orders. When does the Government plan to respond? Other powers include depriving people of driving or passport abilities.
My right hon. Friend is quite right that the Government have consulted on the use of curfews, which are complex and interact with numerous Government services. Several enforcement initiatives aimed at improving compliance are currently in train, and we need to get those in place and assess their effects before we can best see how curfews might fit with them.
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Assessment & feedback
The question specifically asked about the timeline for responding to the consultation on curfew orders but the answer discussed complexity and current enforcement initiatives.
Response accuracy