Today marks one year since the government announced major reforms to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), including the removal of Direct Pay. But has enough progress been made? Below, we look at five key moments from the past year, where we are now and what needs to happen next. 

1. Removal of Direct Pay announced 

In June 2025, the government published its response to the Child Maintenance: Improving the collection and transfer of payments consultation, where it announced that the CMS would be consolidated. This is a major shake-up to the service that will see Direct Pay removed and all cases moved over to a single service type, similar to Collect and Pay. It was also announced that fees for the new service would be reduced to 2% for both paying parents and parents with care (down from 20% and 4%, respectively), and that a consultation on maintenance calculations would take place.  

Gingerbread welcomed the announcements as a positive step forward that could significantly improve the service by strengthening protections for victim-survivors of domestic abuse and improving compliance monitoring. We also called for this change as part of our #FixtheCMS campaign. However, we remained clear that the changes need to be made with extreme care to avoid undesirable outcomes for service users. 

1. Open letter delivered to the Minister 

In October 2025, Gingerbread delivered an open letter to Baroness Sherlock, the Minister with responsibility for the CMS. Signed by over 1,600 supporters (including single parents, MPs and charities), our letter called for our five key principles to guide the consolidation to ensure it truly delivers for single-parent families. 

In the Minister’s response, she recognised the need to manage the consolidation with care and detailed many welcome commitments, including ensuring the CMS makes effective use of its enforcement powers and that the consolidation is well-resourced. However, detail on how these commitments would be achieved was sparse. Disappointingly, the Minister also confirmed that service fees would not be abolished, and legislation that had already been passed to allow victim-survivors to join the CMS on Collect and Pay would not be implemented in the interim. 

1. Public Services Committee calls for CMS reform 

Following an inquiry into the CMS, which involved gathering evidence from a range of individuals, experts, and organisations (including Gingerbread), in October 2025, the House of Lords’ Public Services Committee released its Reforming the Child Maintenance Service report. The report called for reforms across calculations, enforcement and communication, with several recommendations reflecting calls from Gingerbread and single-parent campaigners. 

In January 2026, the government responded to the report, detailing which recommendations it would be taking forward and which it had rejected. Gingerbread was pleased to see commitments including providing trauma-informed training for CMS staff and introducing legislation for Administrative Liability Orders (ALOs). However, key opportunities were missed. We were particularly disappointed by the maintained decision not to implement the legislation to allow victim-survivors to join the CMS on Collect and Pay. 

1. New research launched on domestic abuse and the CMS 

In April 2026, Gingerbread, Surviving Economic Abuse and Women’s Aid collaboratively published “Maintenance is used as a weapon all of the time”: Domestic Abuse and the CMS. This joint briefing, which explores the experiences of victim-survivors who have used the CMS, calls for strengthened support and safeguards. To mark the launch, a parliamentary drop-in event was held where single parents who had contributed to the research spoke to MPs about the changes they urgently need. 

1. Calculations consultation cancelled and lower threshold announced 

Currently, an income must change by 25% to trigger a maintenance recalculation of maintenance due. Whilst this is potentially more stable than the 5% threshold under the Child Support Agency (CSA), Gingerbread has been consistently highlighting that this high threshold can allow for significant financial changes without a change in maintenance. This month, it was announced that this threshold will reduce to 15%, a huge win for single parent campaigners and for the campaign to Fix the CMS. We’re keen to see further details of how this change will be implemented and will keep you updated when we know more.  

However, in disappointing news, the government has cancelled its public consultation on the calculations process, the CMS process for determining the level of maintenance children are entitled to. The current calculations system is not only broken for all involved but it’s also outdated, with the current formula based on the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 – a lot has changed in a quarter of a century. The changed circumstances experienced by single parents 25 years on demand a reassessment. Whilst the government has published departmental research on this, research of 26 resident parents is not a substitute for thousands of single parents sharing their stories and experiences.  

Where are we now? 

It remains unclear how much the government is prioritising the CMS changes single parents need. For the consolidation, the government still hasn’t confirmed a firm timeline for the legislation needed to implement these key reforms, the same can be said for the legislation for ALOs. From our work alongside victim-survivors of domestic abuse within the CMS, we know that staff training is still lacking, the system is still being used as a weapon of abuse and it’s unclear that more changes are planned. We do know that the government has rejected implementing the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act, which would allow victim-survivors entering the CMS to move straight onto Collect and Pay without using Direct Pay – a change that Gingerbread and single parent campaigners have been calling for. 

Single parents currently using the CMS deserve change now, not just promises for the future. While we wait for these changes, 41% of children in single parent families live in poverty. Research shows that where child maintenance is received, it cuts the child poverty rate by 25%, and the government estimates that the announced reforms could lift 20,000 out of poverty. Until these changes are implemented, children will continue to miss out on the maintenance they deserve. 

What needs to happen next? 

The CMS is in urgent need of reform. Single-parent families need a clear timeline of when the government is going to bring forward the changes it has promised. The government must also listen to the wider changes that single parents want made to the CMS, and this means reversing the decision to cancel the calculations consultation.  

Gingerbread will continue to champion the needs of single-parent families and raise their voices to the forefront of the conversation. 

If you want to join our movement for change, adding your voice to thousands of single parents across the country calling for reform, sign-up to our campaigns mailing list and join us in fighting for better.