Question follow-through · 101762
Child Maintenance Service: Reform
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.
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
- 2 Jan 2026
- Target answer date
- 13 Jan 2026
- Answer
- 13 Jan 2026 · 11 calendar days after tabling
Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.
Recorded timeline
2 Jan 2026
Question tabled
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.
13 Jan 2026
Target answer date
Date supplied by the official written-questions record.
13 Jan 2026
Answer published
The Child Maintenance Service keeps international practice under review and draws on lessons from other systems where appropriate. In recent years, we have looked at approaches in countries including Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the...
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Children: Maintenance
28 Aug 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the formulas used by the Child Maintenance Service to determine child maintenance payments.