Briefing Note: Child Maintenance Service (CMS) Statistics for Great Britain (January 2015 - March 2024) Summarised.

Briefing Note: Child Maintenance Service (CMS) Statistics for Great Britain (January 2015 - March 2024) Summarised.

Overview

This is a summary of the latest statistics on the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) for Great Britain, covering January 2015 to March 2024. It includes minor revisions to previously published data.

1. Main Stories

Quarter to March 2024 Highlights:

• New Applications: CMS received 36,000 new applications, a 3,200 increase from the same quarter last year.
• Children Covered: 990,000 children were covered by CMS arrangements, up by 22,000 since December 2023.
• Collect and Pay Compliance: 69% of Paying Parents using Collect and Pay paid some maintenance, up 4 percentage points from March 2023.
  • 23% paid up to 90% of the maintenance due.
  • 46% paid over 90% of the maintenance due.

2. Key Information

Child Maintenance:

• Financial support provided by the non-custodial parent (Paying Parent) to the custodial parent (Receiving Parent).
• Two service levels offered by CMS:
  • Direct Pay: Parents handle payments themselves.
  • Collect and Pay: CMS manages the payments, charges fees to parents to Collect Monies.

3. Applications to CMS

• Year to March 2024: 130,000 new applications, a 5% increase from the previous year.
• Quarter Ending March 2024: 36,000 new applications.
• End of March 2024: CMS managed 720,000 arrangements for 660,000 Paying Parents, a 10% increase from March 2023.

4. Case Composition

• Overall Increase: 17,000 new arrangements since December 2023.
• Service Distribution:
  • 61% Direct Pay.
  • 37% Collect and Pay.
• Switching Services: 11,000 parents moved from Direct Pay to Collect and Pay.
• Unassigned Arrangements: Increased from 15,000 to 16,000, accounting for 2% of all arrangements.

5. Children Covered

• Quarter Ending March 2024: 990,000 children covered, up by 22,000 from December 2023.
• Service Distribution:
  • 620,000 children under 440,000 Direct Pay arrangements.
  • 350,000 children under 270,000 Collect and Pay arrangements.
  • 21,000 children not yet assigned to a service.

6. Paying Parents and Collect and Pay Service

• Compliance Definition: Any money paid towards due child maintenance.
• Quarter Ending March 2024:
  • 190,000 Paying Parents were due to pay via Collect and Pay.
  • 58,000 (31%) paid no maintenance.
  • 130,000 (69%) paid some maintenance:
    • 44,000 (23%) paid up to 90% of the maintenance due.
    • 87,000 (46%) paid over 90% of the maintenance due.

7. Paying Parents Characteristics

• Quarter Ending March 2024:
  • 93% of Paying Parents were male.
  • 73% aged between 30 and 49.
  • 55% had 1 qualifying child.
  • 81% with 2+ children had 1 arrangement; 19% had 2+ arrangements.

8. Child Maintenance Due and Paid

• Quarter Ending March 2024:
  • £348.9 million in child maintenance was due.
  • £266.7 million arranged through Direct Pay.
  • £82.2 million through Collect and Pay (£58.7 million paid; £23.5 million unpaid).

9. Enforcement

• Methods:
  • Deduction from earnings or benefits.
  • Direct bank deductions.
  • Court actions.
• Quarter Ending March 2024:
  • 27% had earnings orders.
  • 38% due via benefits.
  • 35% via other payment methods.
• Liability Orders:
  • 6,200 liability orders in process.
  • 4,700 deduction orders.
  • 5,200 enforcement agent referrals.
  • £5 million collected from sanctions.

10. About These Statistics

• Status: From September 2023, these statistics are classified as Official Statistics.
• Background: CMS replaced the Child Support Agency (CSA) in December 2012. Parents must use the Get Help Arranging Child Maintenance (GHACM) service before applying to CMS.
• Enforcement: Methods include deduction from earnings/benefits, bank deductions, and court actions.