PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(28 August 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the value of child maintenance arrears that the Child Maintenance Service has been unable to recover in each of the last five years; and what steps he is taking to improve recovery of those arrears.

Asked by:
Dr Zubir Ahmed (Labour)

DWP publishes Child Maintenance Service official statistics every three months. Table 4 of the latest national tables shows the amount of unpaid maintenance due through Collect and Pay in each quarter from January 2015 to March 2026, while table 5 shows the cumulative amount due since the CMS began and the proportion remaining unpaid. 7% of the total maintenance due through Collect and Pay since the CMS began remains to be collected. All arrears are treated as collectable unless the receiving parent and/ or child in Scotland, asks CMS to cease action, or in limited circumstances where recovery is not possible.

As arrears are not owed to the Department but to the receiving parent, CMS does not classify debt as uncollectable and has not estimated the value of arrears that cannot be recovered.

CMS continues to pursue unpaid maintenance of all ages and takes enforcement action where appropriate based on a paying parent's ability to pay, which may vary over time. To improve recovery of arrears, CMS uses all available enforcement powers where necessary, including action through Service partners such as Enforcement Agents and, if necessary, to initiate sanctions through HMCTS to secure payment of outstanding child maintenance and ensure children receive the financial support to which they are entitled.

Answered by:
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