Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of child maintenance arrears.

Caroline Nokes

We have at our disposal a range of strong enforcement powers, intended to ensure all parents fulfil their financial responsibilities towards their children. We use all of the powers available to us where it is appropriate to do so, and we are seeking to extend these where appropriate, for instance by deducting money from bank accounts held jointly by the paying parent.

We take into consideration a number of factors when deciding if and what type of enforcement action to take, including the welfare of any relevant children involved and the likelihood of collecting monies owed. Taking enforcement action can be a costly process, particularly in cases where the paying parent is determined not to pay – we must therefore ensure we maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of our enforcement system, deciding what is appropriate on a case by case basis and using powers that have the greatest chance of ensuring people meet their obligations and securing money for children.