Rejected petition: Child Maintenance Service to take essential living costs into account
Rejected on
I petition the Government to reform CMS calculations so paying parents’ essential costs, including mortgage/rent, council tax and utilities, are considered. Child maintenance should remain protected, while assessments should also reflect the parent’s genuine ability to pay fairly and realistically.
At present, CMS calculations are based on gross income, with limited consideration of a paying parent’s essential household expenditure costs such as mortgage/rent, utility bills and other basic household cost. These significantly reduce the income actually available to meet a maintenance liability.
I recognise Child maintenance is vital. However, a more sustainable system should take into account whether the paying parent can meet their own basic living costs after paying maintenance.
Why was this petition rejected?
There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.
You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.
You may wish to sign this petition which calls for a similar action: Review CMS Payments To Ensure Fairness For Paying Parents and Children https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/770444
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.