PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Child Maintenance Service (8 March 2023)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure the timely allocation of complaints about the Child Maintenance Service for investigation by independent case examiner investigators.

Asked by:
Karin Smyth (Labour)

The ICE reviews complaints where the customer has exhausted the relevant complaints process and remains dissatisfied. Information about ICE investigation report outcomes is routinely included in the Independent Case Examiner’s Annual Report, which is published on the ICE page of the gov.uk website. The ICE Office can only accept a complaint for investigation once the customer has exhausted the relevant DWP complaints process.

The ICE process has several stages. When a referral is received into the office, the team initially considers whether, without undertaking a detailed examination of the evidence, a resolution can be brokered with the relevant department or its supplier. If resolution cannot be achieved, and the complaint is accepted, the case awaits allocation to an investigator who, following a review of the evidence, will first consider if settlement is appropriate. This requires the relevant department or its supplier to agree action with the complainant. Full investigation reports of detailed findings and any recommendations for redress are based on a thorough examination of case evidence. Cases are currently, broadly, brought into investigation according to the date on which the complaint was accepted.

At this point the customer (or their representative) is given an indication of when the investigation is likely to commence and how long it is likely to take. This gives the customer a far better sense of the process and what to expect from it. The cases appropriate for a full investigation are the most complex and the Independent Case Examiner will not compromise the quality of the investigation to achieve the 20 week aim.

The ICE office continues to review its internal processes and structures to make the most efficient use of its investigative resource. The majority of those staff newly-recruited in 2022-23 have been deployed on CMS cases. A further 6 staff were recruited in January. Once they have consolidated training, further resource will be deployed on CMS cases.

Answered by:
Mims Davies (Conservative)
13 March 2023