Question follow-through · 101413

Children: Maintenance

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

answeredDepartment for Work and Pensions

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
18 Dec 2025
Target answer date
6 Jan 2026
Answer
6 Jan 2026 · 19 calendar days after tabling

Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.

Recorded timeline

  1. 18 Dec 2025

    Question tabled

    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

  2. 6 Jan 2026

    Target answer date

    Date supplied by the official written-questions record.

  3. 6 Jan 2026

    Answer published

    The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. The Child Maintenance Serviced (CMS) takes the issue of domestic abuse very seriously and is committed to ensuring victims and survivors of abuse get t...

Open official record

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.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

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.

Strong linkSame MP, department and exact heading

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.

Strong linkSame MP, department and exact heading

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

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

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.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

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.

Strong linkSame MP, department and exact heading

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.

Strong linkSame MP, department and exact heading

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.

Strong linkSame MP, department and exact heading

Children: Maintenance

5 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Maintenance Service cases involving cross border maintenance arrangements were (a) opened and (b) successfully enforced in each of the last five years.

Strong linkSame MP, department and exact heading

Children: Maintenance

5 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) driving licenses and (b) passports have been (i) suspended and (ii) disqualified as a result of child maintenance non payment in each of the last five years.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Child Maintenance Service: ICT

5 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times the Child Maintenance Service IT system has experienced a (a) full outage and (b) partial service disruption in the last 12 months.

Strong linkSame MP, department and exact heading

Children: Maintenance

7 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of parents on default rate calculations in each of the last three years.

Strong linkSame MP, department and exact heading

Children: Maintenance

7 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Child Maintenance Service cases have been transferred from direct pay to collect and pay due to non-compliance in each of the last three years.