PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Children: Maintenance (22 March 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the outcome of the High Court case (R [Blundell & Ors] v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions) whether her Department permits the placing of deductions for Child Maintenance payments ahead of all other deductions.

Asked by:
Karin Smyth (Labour)

Child Maintenance can be recovered from Universal Credit where claimants who should contribute towards their non-resident children have no earnings.

Schedule 6 of the Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker's Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013 sets out the priority order in which Departmental staff must consider all deductions from Universal Credit, including Child Maintenance.

Answered by:
Will Quince (Conservative)
26 March 2021