Some Northumberland parents falling behind on child maintenance payments

Nearly a third of parents who have their child maintenance payments controlled by the Government in Northumberland are failing to pay their ex-partners.
Nearly a third of child maintenance payments in Northumberland are late.Nearly a third of child maintenance payments in Northumberland are late.
Nearly a third of child maintenance payments in Northumberland are late.

Newly released figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show that around 660 parents were due to pay support through the Child Maintenance Service in Northumberland between April and June 2018, but 32.8 per cent of them had their payments in arrears.

But the proportion of parents with payments in arrears in Northumberland is down from 35.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2018.

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The charity for single-parent families Gingerbread said the rate of noncompliance in Britain, about 38 per cent of the total, is “worryingly high”.

This payment service, called Collect & Pay, is part of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), which was set up in 2012 to replace the Child Support Agency.

The CMS can take money from a parent’s earnings or their bank account if they try to avoid payments, or take a parent to court.

The Child Maintenance Service can also calculate the amount of child support to be paid and parents can make the arrangements themselves without the direct control of the Government – a mechanism called Direct Pay.

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In Northumberland, 1,290 parents made Direct Pay arrangements from April to June 2018.

At the end of June 2018, three quarters of paying parents in the CMS in Britain were using Direct Pay and a quarter the Collect & Pay Service.

Sumi Rabindrakumar, Research Officer at Gingerbread, said: “These figures show that the Government still needs to get to grips with unpaid child maintenance. Time and time again, parents come to Gingerbread frustrated by CMS inaction.

“This is not just about introducing more powers. The CMS must deal with cases more promptly and make better use of existing powers.

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“With over £200 million in unpaid maintenance, the Government risks repeating the same mistakes as the old Child Support Agency. Without reform, too many children will continue to go without the support they deserve.”