Petition · past parliament
Don’t write off child maintenance debt when non resident parent refuses to pay.
Rejected
21 signatures
What the petition asks
The Child Maintenance Service, as a government run service, needs to have more powers to collect maintenance owing by a non resident parent.
Failure to pay the amount calculated by this service, should result in harsher penalties and should not penalise the resident parent and their children.
Failure to pay the amount calculated by this service, should result in harsher penalties and should not penalise the resident parent and their children.
The current situation allows the non resident parent to continue to fail to pay over a number of years knowing that eventually the debt will be written off and they will not be forced to pay. Some families are highly reliant upon this money being paid towards the upbringing of the children who should remain the responsibility of both parents irrespective of whether they remain together or not. Absent parents should be forced to contribute to show responsibility for their offspring.
Why it was rejected
It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.
Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action.
We understand that you are concerned about non-payment of child maintenance, but we're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do. The Child Maintenance Service does not have a policy of writing off debts when they are not paid, although in 2018 the UK Government announced a new policy to bring the estimated £3.7 billion of child maintenance arrears accumulated under the 1993 and 2003 schemes: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7776/
We could accept a petition calling for this policy to be reversed, and full repayment of outstanding debts from this period sought.
We have published the following petitions, which you might like to sign:
Tougher penalties for not paying child maintenance: Tougher penalties for not paying child maintenance
We understand that you are concerned about non-payment of child maintenance, but we're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do. The Child Maintenance Service does not have a policy of writing off debts when they are not paid, although in 2018 the UK Government announced a new policy to bring the estimated £3.7 billion of child maintenance arrears accumulated under the 1993 and 2003 schemes: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7776/
We could accept a petition calling for this policy to be reversed, and full repayment of outstanding debts from this period sought.
We have published the following petitions, which you might like to sign:
Tougher penalties for not paying child maintenance: Tougher penalties for not paying child maintenance
Timeline
| 30 Jan 2021 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 17 Feb 2021 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
21
Status
Rejected
Rejected
17 Feb 2021
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.