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Child Maintenance Service Modernisation

The Department for Work and Pensions is modernising the Child Maintenance Service to address legacy IT systems, operational complexity, and service delivery challenges while maintaining gender-neutral processes. The transformation programme aims to improve effectiveness in child maintenance collection and administration, with progress already evident in certain operational areas.

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2026

1 event
29 Apr 2026 | Written question Department for Work and Pensions Context · primary home: Child Maintenance Service leg… linked

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service in ensuring its processes remain gender-neutral, part

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service in ensuring its processes remain gender-neutral, particularly in relation to evidential requirements where p

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2025

5 events
31 Jan 2025 | Committee report linked

We asked DWP to explain its mixed performance in the timeliness with which new benefit claims are processed. DWP told us that it was undertaking a programme of modernisation, which bit by bit was building the modern service that everyone expected. It highlighted that the majority of its customers–7.5 million UC claimants and 12 million State Pension recipients–were already benefiting from the investment it had made in modern platforms, and it wanted to bring this modernisation to customers of...

We asked DWP to explain its mixed performance in the timeliness with which new benefit claims are processed. DWP told us that it was undertaking a programme of modernisation, which bit by bit was building the modern service that everyone …

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31 Jan 2025 | Committee report linked

DWP also told us that it had been using artificial intelligence to scan customers’ written communications for words and phrases that could indicate vulnerability so that it could provide support quickly. In subsequent correspondence, it highlighted that this technology solution had recently received the ‘Excellence in Delivery Award’ at the 2024 Civil Service Awards.31 DWP conceded that it did not yet have an equivalent screening system to identify such customers on the telephone but said it ...

DWP also told us that it had been using artificial intelligence to scan customers’ written communications for words and phrases that could indicate vulnerability so that it could provide support quickly. In subsequent correspondence, it highlighted that this technology solution …

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31 Jan 2025 | Committee report linked

DWP recognises that significant parts of its services remain largely unmodernised. Its Service Modernisation Programme is an 11-year organisation-wide programme, estimated to cost £312.1 million and running from 2022–23 to 2032–33, which is seeking to deliver benefits for customers, staff and taxpayers.38 However, the scale and complexity of the programme means delivery involves significant risk. DWP’s 2023 accounting officer assessment highlighted the challenges of managing multiple interdep...

DWP recognises that significant parts of its services remain largely unmodernised. Its Service Modernisation Programme is an 11-year organisation-wide programme, estimated to cost £312.1 million and running from 2022–23 to 2032–33, which is seeking to deliver benefits for customers, staff …

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31 Jan 2025 | Committee report linked

DWP told us that the scale of the challenge involved in service modernisation was daunting for a variety of reasons. It highlighted the complexity of what it did, the size of its operations, issues relating to its legacy IT systems and the need to meet day–to–day demand for its services at the same time as transforming them. It stressed, however, that it had to transform its services and referred to child maintenance as an example of an area where benefits were already being achieved, with st...

DWP told us that the scale of the challenge involved in service modernisation was daunting for a variety of reasons. It highlighted the complexity of what it did, the size of its operations, issues relating to its legacy IT systems …

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2024

1 event

2023

9 events
30 Jun 2023 | Committee report linked

The scope of the programme has also changed significantly since it began in 2016. HMCTS altered and reduced the scope of what it planned to deliver several times. For example, HMCTS and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) were originally jointly responsible for the common platform project and planned to deliver common platform as a single system. However, in 2021 the project board chose to change the design of common platform to involve interfaces with the CPS’s system.12 As part of its recen...

The scope of the programme has also changed significantly since it began in 2016. HMCTS altered and reduced the scope of what it planned to deliver several times. For example, HMCTS and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) were originally jointly …

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27 Apr 2023 | Committee report linked

Evidence to us has raised particular concern about the fraudulent practices employed by some paying parents to reduce maintenance calculations but the Department has not made an estimate of the level of undetected customer fraud and error within the system. We repeat the Public Accounts Committee’s recommendation that the Department should assess the risk of fraud and error within child maintenance and publish, as part of its annual report and accounts for the child maintenance scheme, a frau...

Evidence to us has raised particular concern about the fraudulent practices employed by some paying parents to reduce maintenance calculations but the Department has not made an estimate of the level of undetected customer fraud and error within the system. …

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27 Apr 2023 | Committee report linked

The CMS should ensure its guidance is clear on situations of 50/50 day-to-day care and that, where court orders are made under the expectation of care being equally split, no maintenance is deemed to be due. The use of child benefit to determine that maintenance is indeed due appears to us to be a blunt tool and recommend that the CMS should not use child benefit as an effective proxy to determine whether child maintenance is due.

The CMS should ensure its guidance is clear on situations of 50/50 day-to-day care and that, where court orders are made under the expectation of care being equally split, no maintenance is deemed to be due. The use of child …

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27 Apr 2023 | Committee report linked

Presently it is not possible for child benefit to be split between parents, even in cases of equally shared care. The Department should work with HMRC to enable parents with shared care to split child benefit between them.

Presently it is not possible for child benefit to be split between parents, even in cases of equally shared care. The Department should work with HMRC to enable parents with shared care to split child benefit between them. Type: conclusion …

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27 Apr 2023 | Committee report linked

We have heard that perceptions of the levels of customer service of the CMS continue to be poor for both paying and receiving parents. The Department should develop its management information to allow it to demonstrate it is delivering good customer service and report publicly on this regularly. We recommend the Department should publish this information on a yearly basis as part of the Department’s annual customer experience survey returns.

We have heard that perceptions of the levels of customer service of the CMS continue to be poor for both paying and receiving parents. The Department should develop its management information to allow it to demonstrate it is delivering good …

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27 Apr 2023 | Committee report linked

The current opening hours of the CMS helpline were criticised in our roundtable discussions, particularly from parents who had work commitments. We recommend the Government trial different opening hours for the CMS, to include weekends. This could be achieved by reducing the opening hours on some weekdays.

The current opening hours of the CMS helpline were criticised in our roundtable discussions, particularly from parents who had work commitments. We recommend the Government trial different opening hours for the CMS, to include weekends. This could be achieved by …

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27 Apr 2023 | Committee report linked

Customers only being able to contact the CMS via letters or telephone is slow and antiquated. The CMS should introduce an electronic messaging system, or at least an ability for customers to contact them by e-mail to provide greater levels of customer convenience.

Customers only being able to contact the CMS via letters or telephone is slow and antiquated. The CMS should introduce an electronic messaging system, or at least an ability for customers to contact them by e-mail to provide greater levels …

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2022

9 events
22 Jun 2022 | Committee report linked

The Department has displayed insufficient curiosity around the needs of some of the most vulnerable separated families and their children. Take-up of the Department’s CMS scheme is substantially lower than it expected. An estimated 18% of separated families used the CMS scheme in 2019–20, compared to an expected 33%. As a result, there may be around 350,000 parents with caring responsibilities who do not have a child maintenance arrangement but would like one. The Department’s research shows ...

The Department has displayed insufficient curiosity around the needs of some of the most vulnerable separated families and their children. Take-up of the Department’s CMS scheme is substantially lower than it expected. An estimated 18% of separated families used the …

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22 Jun 2022 | Committee report linked

The Department’s system of child maintenance is not designed to protect those subject to domestic abuse or coercive control. The Department designed the current child maintenance system to emphasise collaboration between parents, with the CMS available as a voluntary safety net that separated parents can choose to use if they decide to. For survivors of domestic abuse, the CMS may be the safest and only way to secure maintenance from their ex-partner. Around three in five parents that apply t...

The Department’s system of child maintenance is not designed to protect those subject to domestic abuse or coercive control. The Department designed the current child maintenance system to emphasise collaboration between parents, with the CMS available as a voluntary safety …

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22 Jun 2022 | Committee report linked

The Department has not taken responsibility for detecting child maintenance fraud, instead shifting this responsibility onto its customers. The Department asserts that it does not treat tackling child maintenance fraud, where children often suffer as the end user, with any less enthusiasm than it does tackling fraud against the taxpayer. However, its approach does not appear to reflect this sentiment. It has not assessed the risk or actual level of fraud and error within child maintenance in ...

The Department has not taken responsibility for detecting child maintenance fraud, instead shifting this responsibility onto its customers. The Department asserts that it does not treat tackling child maintenance fraud, where children often suffer as the end user, with any …

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22 Jun 2022 | Committee report linked

The Department has repeatedly failed to achieve savings targets for the child maintenance scheme over the past decade and again risks overpromising on the benefits of its current transformation programme. The Department has reduced the cost to the taxpayer of administering child maintenance by £172 million from £494 million in 2011–12, to £322 million in 2020–21, in line with its smaller caseload and new income from charging. However, the Department has failed to deliver on its promised effic...

The Department has repeatedly failed to achieve savings targets for the child maintenance scheme over the past decade and again risks overpromising on the benefits of its current transformation programme. The Department has reduced the cost to the taxpayer of …

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22 Jun 2022 | Committee report linked

The NAO found that parents from some minority groups, such as Black, African, Caribbean or Black British parents, are less likely to use the CMS scheme. However, the Department has not conducted research into why this might be or whether there is any indirect racial discrimination.17 Race is a ‘protected characteristic’ and under the Public Sector Equality Duty, which came into force in April 2011, public authorities are required, among other duties, to advance equality of opportunity between...

The NAO found that parents from some minority groups, such as Black, African, Caribbean or Black British parents, are less likely to use the CMS scheme. However, the Department has not conducted research into why this might be or whether …

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22 Jun 2022 | Committee report linked

Customer satisfaction with the CMS is no better than under the old CSA schemes. The Department’s internal survey results show that in the quarter ending December 2019 (before the pandemic), the Department’s customer satisfaction rating was 60%. This is lower than it was when the 2012 scheme was first introduced to replace the CSA schemes, which were widely regarded as having failed to manage child maintenance adequately. More recently, the Department has incorporated its customer satisfaction...

Customer satisfaction with the CMS is no better than under the old CSA schemes. The Department’s internal survey results show that in the quarter ending December 2019 (before the pandemic), the Department’s customer satisfaction rating was 60%. This is lower …

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22 Jun 2022 | Committee report linked

We therefore asked the Department about the affordability of payments. The Department explained that its calculations were based on historical income, so “affordability is part of the calculation in that respect”. But it recognised that “the problem then comes when someone’s circumstances change and they no longer have the level of income that was assessed”.61 It explained that, while the amount due going forward may then have been reduced to take into account of the lower income, arrears may...

We therefore asked the Department about the affordability of payments. The Department explained that its calculations were based on historical income, so “affordability is part of the calculation in that respect”. But it recognised that “the problem then comes when …

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22 Jun 2022 | Committee report linked

The Department refers cases of suspected fraud to its Financial Investigations Unit (FIU) to assess the accuracy of the award. Its FIU detected 1,400 cases involving fraud in 2020–21 and increased the child maintenance owed by £10.9 million.74 The Department relies almost entirely on parents to detect child maintenance fraud. It told us that its “most fruitful references come from the receiving parent, often because it is the receiving parent who knows an awful lot about the paying parent’s s...

The Department refers cases of suspected fraud to its Financial Investigations Unit (FIU) to assess the accuracy of the award. Its FIU detected 1,400 cases involving fraud in 2020–21 and increased the child maintenance owed by £10.9 million.74 The Department …

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22 Jun 2022 | Committee report linked

The Department told us that its Transformation programme should reduce costs and improve payment compliance by digitalising processes and allowing its staff to move from case maintenance into enforcement activities.83 It expected CMS transformation to be complete by financial year 2024–25, at a cost of more than £30 million to save an estimated £151 million.84 The Department told us that it also planned to make wider improvements to its customer service through its transformation programme. T...

The Department told us that its Transformation programme should reduce costs and improve payment compliance by digitalising processes and allowing its staff to move from case maintenance into enforcement activities.83 It expected CMS transformation to be complete by financial year …

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2021

3 events
23 Jun 2021 | Committee report linked

The most pressing data sharing issue between the two governments relates to the planned rollout of the Scottish Child Payment to children aged six to 16, a policy priority for the Scottish Government. Currently the Scottish Government offers £10 a week to eligible families for each child under the age of six to help support household costs. The Cabinet Secretary used the example of rolling out the Scottish Child Payment for older children as a case where the process of data sharing faces admi...

The most pressing data sharing issue between the two governments relates to the planned rollout of the Scottish Child Payment to children aged six to 16, a policy priority for the Scottish Government. Currently the Scottish Government offers £10 a …

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23 Jun 2021 | Committee report linked

The Minister for Welfare Delivery responded to this by telling us that the Scottish Government had announced their intention to roll out the further option of split payments for Universal Credit claimants in Scotland but had ‘no clear intention or basis on how it could be delivered or operationalised.’364 He went on to say that whilst this was possible, as split payments are available on a ‘manual basis on request’365 at present, making it available ‘as part of any automated process is far mo...

The Minister for Welfare Delivery responded to this by telling us that the Scottish Government had announced their intention to roll out the further option of split payments for Universal Credit claimants in Scotland but had ‘no clear intention or …

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24 Mar 2021 | Committee report linked

We have previously reported on HMCTS’s £1.2 billion programme to modernise courts, a very ambitious programme aiming to change how people access justice using more technology, closing courts and centralising customer service. We were concerned that HMCTS was at risk of falling behind schedule despite extending its timetable from four to six years, and that the pace of reform and pressure to make savings was limiting HMCTS’s ability to evaluate the impact on users and justice outcomes, particu...

We have previously reported on HMCTS’s £1.2 billion programme to modernise courts, a very ambitious programme aiming to change how people access justice using more technology, closing courts and centralising customer service. We were concerned that HMCTS was at risk …

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2020

1 event
18 Nov 2020 | Committee report linked

The people that are being overpaid and underpaid are amongst those least likely in society to be able to pay the money back or absorb an underpayment. The nature of means tested benefits means people entitled to receive the benefits are already those in society with the lowest incomes and savings. Even within this group, those with the least are affected the most by having to repay debts: for instance, Universal Credit claimants with the lowest incomes face larger deductions to repay debts (i...

The people that are being overpaid and underpaid are amongst those least likely in society to be able to pay the money back or absorb an underpayment. The nature of means tested benefits means people entitled to receive the benefits …

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2019

1 event

2018

2 events

2017

2 events