Petition · past parliament · Department for Work and Pensions

Do not allow non-resident parents with CMS arrears to move off enforced payments

Closed 63 signatures

What the petition asks

We want the Government to reform Child Maintenance Service (CMS) arrangements so that when a non-resident payment is paying off arrears through a deduction from earnings order, this remains in place until the arrears are cleared, and the parent not allowed to change payment method after six months.
Currently after 6 months of paying via an enforced method, such as a deduction from earnings order, the paying parent has the option to move to Collect and Pay, which means the paying parent is relied upon to make the payment. Should they miss payments it can take months to set up a new deduction from earnings order, meaning the resident parent can miss out on payments during that time. We want CMS to keep enforced payment in place where a non-resident parent has child maintenance arrears, until these are cleared.

Timeline

29 Aug 2023 Petition opened for signatures
29 Feb 2024 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 63
Status Closed
Department Department for Work and Pensions
Opened 29 Aug 2023
Closed 29 Feb 2024

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