Written Question·Department for Work and Pensions·UIN 68845

Children: Maintenance

Tabled: 17 July 2025
Answered: 22 July 2025
Named Day

Question

Dr Ben Spencer

ConservativeRunnymede and Weybridge

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to improve (a) enforcement and (b) arrears recovery in child maintenance cases where the paying parent resides abroad.

Answer

Andrew Western
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) can only be used where the receiving parent, paying parent and any qualifying children are all habitually resident in the United Kingdom (UK). The CMS does not have jurisdiction where this does not apply. The process f...

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