Baroness Sherlock, the Minister responsible for the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), has responded to our open letter, which called for five key principles to guide the forthcoming service consolidation. 

In our letter, which was signed by over 1,600 individuals, we set out the following principles as essential to the reforms: 

1. Harness the CMS’s full potential to reduce child poverty 
2. Provide clear communication to all users 
3. Ensure support for those leaving CMS 
4. Employ sufficient resources for transitions 
5. Develop measurable targets for success 

In her response, the Minister highlighted her ambitions for the CMS: to deliver a fair and trustworthy service that is more accessible to parents, particularly those who are vulnerable; to tackle non-compliance through a single streamlined service that quickly identifies and tackles missed payments; and, most importantly, to help lift more children out of poverty. 

The Minister estimated that the CMS consolidation could lift around 20,000 children out of poverty. She also reiterated a number of practical commitments, including a three-month notice period for those on Direct Pay before moving to the new service, a clear definition of non-compliance and its consequences, and a consultation on child maintenance calculations later this year.  

Gingerbread welcomes the Minister’s recognition of the need to manage, communicate, monitor, and evaluate the consolidation process with care. We are also encouraged by her commitment to ensuring that the CMS makes effective use of its enforcement powers, alongside her focus on ensuring the consolidation is properly resourced.  

That said, we would have liked to see more detail in her response on how these commitments will be delivered in practice. For example, through improved training for CMS caseworkers, greater use of the CMS’s stronger enforcement powers and clear targets to measure the success of the consolidation. We would have also welcomed a commitment to introducing single-named caseworkers to improve the quality of support available to CMS users. 

Disappointingly, the Minister confirmed that fees will remain a feature of the CMS and reaffirmed the government’s decision not to commence the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act 2023. This Act would allow victim-survivors of domestic abuse to move directly onto Collect and Pay, avoiding the need to start on Direct Pay. Instead, the Minister argued that the forthcoming consolidation will deliver stronger and more inclusive protections. 

While Gingerbread recognises that the consolidation could significantly strengthen safeguarding for victim-survivors, these changes are not expected for at least two years, leaving many without adequate protection in the interim. By that point, it will have been over four years since the Domestic Abuse Act received Royal Assent, with victim-survivors still waiting to see meaningful change. 

Gingerbread welcomes the Minister’s commitment to continued engagement with stakeholders as the reforms to the CMS progress, and we look forward to working with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to ensure the reformed CMS truly delivers for single-parent families and helps lift more children out of poverty. 

Read the full response from Baroness Sherlock 

Read Gingerbread’s open letter 

What’s next?

We await further information on the review of the child maintenance calculation, and the planned launch of the public consultation later this year. Once this has launched, we will engage with single parents to ensure that Gingerbread’s response reflects their needs, and we will be encouraging single parents to submit their own responses too. 

We will continue to champion the needs of single-parent families and advocate for better CMS customer service, stronger enforcement, the abolition of service fees, and improved support for victim-survivors of domestic abuse. We are keen to continue to engage with the Minister throughout the implementation of the CMS’s consolidation and will work to ensure that the perspectives of single parents are fully reflected in this process. 

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