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Need to know
The DWP has set out plans to make major changes to the Child Maintenance Service
Child maintenance shake-up could mean new charges for parents: what you need to know
- The Government plans to scrap Direct Pay, the fee-free option that lets separated parents arrange child maintenance payments after the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) calculates what is owed.
- Under proposals that could be introduced by 2027, the CMS would collect and transfer all payments. Parents who currently pay each other directly would face a new two per cent charge – up from nothing currently.
- The Department for Work and Pensions says Direct Pay makes it difficult to monitor missed or late payments and can enable economic abuse. Parliamentary Under-Secretary Lilian Greenwood said in a new update last week: “The current arrangement can also create opportunities for economic abuse, including situations where maintenance is withheld, paid late or manipulated as a means of exerting control over a former partner.”
- For parents already using Collect and Pay, proposed fees would fall if payments are made on time. The charge for paying parents would drop from 20% to 2%, while the fee for receiving parents would fall from 4% to 2%.
- The House of Lords Public Services Committee says it is not convinced removing Direct Pay will lead to higher compliance, warning that the already overstretched CMS could deliver poorer results without further investment in staffing and resources.
READ THE FULL STORY: DWP CMS child maintenance update on ‘major’ change with new 2 per cent charge
