Petition · past parliament · Department for Work and Pensions

Reform child maintenance support from self-employed non-resident parents

Closed 5,039 signatures

What the petition asks

This should include utilising all data available, including CIS RTI data, to verify and check declared self-assessment gross profit figures, and implementing measures to collect accrued debt for repeated and persistent non-payment cases at source, such as from SA tax refunds.
According to CMS statistics on the Collect and Pay service, £20 million due is unpaid every quarter; 32% paid no maintenance for q/e March 20. Non-payment relates to 111k+ children, without looking to unpaid maintenance under Direct Pay or false calculations for complex earners.

Child maintenance needs to be treated in the same way as tax and not seen as a benefit, to ensure more children receive the correct financial support they are legally entitled to. Help lift these children out of poverty.

Timeline

16 Jul 2020 Petition opened for signatures
16 Jan 2021 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 5,039
Status Closed
Department Department for Work and Pensions
Opened 16 Jul 2020
Closed 16 Jan 2021

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.