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

Closed on 29 February 2024

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.