Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Child Maintenance Service 2026-04-27 (2)

Monday 27 April 2026 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Zoe Franklin raised concerns about the Child Maintenance Service's handling of redundancy payments.
  • Legislation requires using earnings information provided by HMRC, which does not include tax-exempt redundancy payments up to 80,000.
  • The Child Maintenance Service may consider redundancy payments when looking at arrears.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Zöe Franklin Lib Dem Guildford
Benefits & Welfare Children & Families
Context

A constituent's case where a successful tribunal appeal led to arrears being awarded but no maintenance payment due to significant redundancy and asset holdings highlights the issue.

Question

My constituent successfully appealed at tribunal, with both the judge and Child Maintenance Service agreeing that declared income did not reflect true earnings. Despite receiving substantial redundancy payments and holding significant assets including property and pensions, no maintenance is being paid. This exposes a gap in how redundancy payments are treated by CMS. Will the Minister urgently review this?

Answer from Andrew Western

Part of the challenge is that legislation requires using earnings information provided by HMRC, and since redundancy payments up to £80,000 are tax-exempt, they do not show up. I will share concerns raised with Baroness Sherlock.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Urgent review requested but only stated as sharing concerns without committing to a timeline or action

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Q2 Zöe Franklin Lib Dem Guildford
Employment Benefits & Welfare
Context

Redundancy payments are not considered in standard maintenance calculation, raising concerns about families' support.

Question

If his Department will review the adequacy of the treatment of redundancy payments by the Child Maintenance Service. Redundancy payments are not taken into account and only capital may be considered through an asset variation if at least £31,250 is held in a bank or savings account. The service considers redundancy payment when looking at arrears.

Answer from Andrew Western

Redundancy payments up to £80,000 are tax-exempt and do not show in earnings information provided by HMRC. The service may consider redundancy payment when looking at arrears.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific review requested but only explained current treatment without commitment to review

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