Question follow-through · 99821
Children: Maintenance
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of Child Maintenance Service enforcement cases and increase compliance.
About this written question
A written question asks a government minister for information in writing. Parliament publishes the question and any answer.
- Answering body
- Department for Work and Pensions
- Tabled
- 15 Dec 2025
- Target answer date
- 18 Dec 2025
- Answer
- 7 Jan 2026 · 23 calendar days after tabling
Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.
Recorded timeline
15 Dec 2025
Question tabled
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of Child Maintenance Service enforcement cases and increase compliance.
18 Dec 2025
Target answer date
Date supplied by the official written-questions record.
7 Jan 2026
Answer published
The Department does not have a backlog of Child Maintenance Service (CMS) enforcement cases. All cases requiring enforcement action are being actively progressed in accordance with established operational procedures.The Department continues to strengthen ...
Official data retrieved 28 Sept 2026.
Later records
Possible follow-up questions
Strong links require the same MP, department and exact heading. Other same-department questions are shown as unreviewed candidates, not as confirmed follow-ups. No debate link is asserted unless a stable source relationship exists.
Children: Maintenance
18 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Child Maintenance Service safeguarding procedures for parents who have experienced domestic abuse; and whether changes have been made to those procedures r
Children: Maintenance
18 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Maintenance Service cases in each of the last five years have had a safeguarding flag applied due to domestic abuse concerns; and how many of those cases involved Collect and Pay arrangem
Children: Maintenance
18 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children are included in Child Maintenance Service cases in which the paying parent has been subject to three or more separate enforcement actions for non payment.
Children: Maintenance
18 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Child Maintenance Service delays and errors on child poverty levels and low-income households.
Children: Maintenance
18 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the annual collection rate is for child maintenance under (a) Collect and Pay and (b) Direct Pay.
Child Maintenance Service: Staff
2 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff the Child Maintenance Service employs; and what the average caseload is per caseworker in the (a) enforcement, (b) calculation and (c) complaints teams.
Children: Maintenance
2 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Deduction from Earnings Orders and Deduction Orders from bank accounts are active.
Children: Maintenance
2 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of paying parents using (a) cash-based and (b) undeclared income sources to avoid maintenance payments; and what steps the Child Maintenance Service is taking to
Child Maintenance Service: Training
2 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training modules on domestic abuse and financial coercion are mandatory for Child Maintenance Service staff; and how many staff have completed that training in the last 12 months.
Child Maintenance Service: Reform
2 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which international child maintenance systems his Department has reviewed in the last five years as comparators for reform of the Child Maintenance Service; and what key lessons were identified.
Children: Maintenance
5 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases have been closed by the Child Maintenance Service in each of the last five years; and what were the primary reasons for closure.
Children: Maintenance
5 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Maintenance Service applications were closed as incomplete in each of the last five years.