Child Support Agency successor organisation the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has not taken the collection of arrears seriously, a charity has claimed.
Responding to figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions, single parent charity Gingerbread highlighted a cited total of £35 million in maintenance arrears for the two years to August.
Chief executive Fiona Weir said:
“With more than half of ‘paying’ parents associated with the maintenance arrears, this is disappointing for a new service where there is a clear government commitment to ensuring that children receive their child maintenance payments on time and in full. When maintenance doesn’t arrive, it means bills can’t get paid and children end up going without.”
An additional £1 billion in maintenance arrears from existing Child Support Agency cases will be transferred to the CMS over the next three years.
Fiona Weir called on the government to explain its plans to collect the money owed, and demanded an assurance that “when transferred to the CMS – existing CSA debts owed for children are not forgotten. This is money hard-pressed single parent families can’t do without.”
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