Petition · past parliament · Department for Work and Pensions

Public Inquiry into the Child Maintenance Service

Closed 7,638 signatures

What the petition asks

We are concerned that incorrect assessments and inflation of amounts owed by paying parents, combined with excessive use of enforcement action, has caused significant distress to many paying parents, leading in some cases to catastrophic consequences. We want a Public Inquiry to investigate this.
We want the Government to launch a Public Inquiry to investigate how Child Maintenance Service maintenance assessments have been conducted, the validity of the £3.8 billion of arrears, the enforcement action taken by the Child Maintenance Service to collect arrears, and the impact this has had on paying parents.

Timeline

9 Oct 2023 Petition opened for signatures
9 Apr 2024 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 7,638
Status Closed
Department Department for Work and Pensions
Opened 9 Oct 2023
Closed 9 Apr 2024

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