PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Children: Maintenance (31 October 2019)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that non-maintenance-paying parents do not request mandatory reconsiderations from the Child Maintenance Service to continue to avoid making payments.

Asked by:
Caroline Nokes (Conservative)

All clients, regardless of their role within the scheme, have the right to request a decision be reconsidered by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). Mandatory reconsideration rights only apply to decisions relating to child maintenance liability. The standard timescale in which a revision may be requested is within 30 days of the date of notification of the decision. Our policy is that a mandatory reconsideration will only happen once in respect of any particular decision, after which a client accrues the right to appeal to an independent tribunal.

If a client requests a mandatory reconsideration, their child maintenance liability will remain in place as usual until a decision is made. Where a mandatory reconsideration or appeal is ongoing, the Service will continue to attempt collection of any debt that is not covered by the appeal. The CMS may make a decision to suspend enforcement action on debt which is subject to an appeal, as this may result in reimbursement for the amount collected.

Answered by:
Mims Davies (Conservative)
4 November 2019