For too many parents in this country, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is not just failing—it is actively making their lives harder. Behind the concerning statistics lies a human cost: struggling single parents, children living in financial insecurity, and families trapped in bureaucratic nightmares.
Since being elected as the Member of Parliament for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire, I have been shocked by the number of constituents contacting me with horror stories about their dealings with the CMS, and from both paying and receiving parents. Each case reveals a pattern more troubling than isolated administrative errors or occasional delays. What we have is a system that is structurally failing the very people it was designed to support.
These stories from constituents in my regular surgeries compelled me to raise this issue in Parliament. Last Wednesday, having secured the adjournment debate, I challenged the Government to address the widespread failings within the CMS: enforcement mechanisms too feeble to deter those who game the system, inadequate protections for survivors of domestic abuse, an unresponsive and impersonal bureaucracy that overwhelms rather than supports, and calculation errors that grind down all those caught within this failing system.
This is an issue that we must get right. Parents and children around the country endure financial hardship because the state is letting them down. Late in 2024, the single-parent charity Gingerbread published a report that showed over half of parents not receiving their maintenance struggle to pay essential bills. Nearly half cannot afford basics like school uniforms for their children. Research by Save the Children reveals a stark reality: almost one in two children in single-parent families live in poverty, compared to one in four in two-parent households.
Several areas demand immediate action. First, we must strengthen the CMS’s enforcement powers. Currently, non-paying parents exploit gaping loopholes to evade their responsibilities, leaving receiving parent to shoulder the financial burden alone. We need faster, more robust enforcement mechanisms to ensure that once payment arrangements are made, they are honoured.
Second, the CMS must improve its customer service. No parent – whether paying or receiving – should have to navigate a confusing, impersonal system, especially given evidence that the CMS actively worsens relationships between divorced parents. There should be continuity in case handling so that families are not forced to repeatedly recount traumatic experiences. Linked to this is the urgent need for better staff training. CMS caseworkers are only required to complete 3 hours of training on supporting those who have suffered domestic abuse. That is simply not good enough.
Finally, we need a fairer funding model. It is unconscionable that parents already in financial difficult must pay a 4% charge to use the “Collect and Pay” system. This charge should be abolished. The Government must also review the formula used to calculate maintenance payments to ensure it accurately reflects the real cost of raising a child in today’s Britain.
While I welcomed the Minister’s willingness to engage during our debate, warm words alone cannot repair a broken system. The Government’s consultation on improving CMS enforcement concluded last year—parents deserve to know when results will be published and when meaningful reforms will follow.
For too long, the struggles of families dealing with the CMS have remained hidden from public view. These families deserve better. They deserve a system that works fairly and efficiently, that holds non-paying parents accountable, and that treats every parent with the dignity and respect.
This issue transcends party lines — it is fundamentally a moral imperative. The cross-party contributions in the recent debate were encouraging, but we need sustained commitment. If we are serious about supporting children, reducing poverty, and building a fairer society, fixing the CMS must be an urgent priority. I will continue to advocate for comprehensive reform until the voices of the families failed by this broken system are heard—and until the Government delivers the change they so desperately need.
To support children, reduce poverty, and build a fairer society, we must fix the Child Maintenance Service
