Child Maintenance Service under pressure: what can parents do when the system goes wrong?

What is the Child Maintenance Service and what is it’s function?

Both parents remain financially responsible for their children following a separation, regardless of whether they continue to have contact with them.

Where parents cannot agree child maintenance between themselves, the CMS can calculate the amount payable. Broadly, its calculation is based on the paying parent’s income, together with other relevant factors.

The scale of the service is significant. According to figures reported by the BBC, the CMS is currently overseeing more than 800,000 cases across England, Scotland and Wales involving more than one million children, with its caseload having increased by around 300,000 in five years.

For many families, the system works and provides an important mechanism for ensuring that children receive appropriate financial support. However, the Panorama investigation highlights the serious consequences that can arise when it does not.

What happens when child maintenance is not paid?

One of the cases reported by the BBC involved a mother whose former partner was expected to pay more than £330 per month but had accumulated arrears approaching £10,000. She described having to use food banks and being unable to afford activities for her children.

Another mother, whose identity was changed because her former partner had been abusive, reportedly faced arrears exceeding £10,000 and described having to skip meals when maintenance was not paid.

These accounts illustrate that child maintenance is not simply an accounting exercise between former partners. It is money intended to contribute towards the costs of a child’s day-to-day life, including their food, clothing, housing and other needs.

Where payments are not made voluntarily, the CMS has various enforcement options available to it.

Through its Collect and Pay service, the CMS can collect maintenance rather than requiring payments to be made directly between parents. Depending upon the circumstances, it can take money from wages, bank accounts or benefits. It can also seek to recover arrears and apply to the court for a liability order.

However, the Panorama investigation raises concerns about the effectiveness and speed of enforcement in some cases. The BBC reports that during the first three months of 2026 there were almost 61,000 Collect and Pay cases in which no payment at all was made, affecting approximately 86,000 children.

For a parent relying on maintenance to meet their child’s needs, prolonged delays can create significant financial pressure.

What if the CMS calculation is wrong?

The investigation also highlights an important issue for paying parents: mistakes in maintenance assessments can themselves have serious consequences.

One father featured by Panorama described years of disputes with the CMS, including an occasion when an additional child who was not his was incorrectly added to his account. He later successfully challenged another issue at tribunal.

This demonstrates why it is important for both paying and receiving parents to check CMS decisions carefully.

If you believe that the CMS has used incorrect information, failed to take relevant circumstances into account or otherwise reached the wrong decision, there may be options to challenge that decision. The appropriate route will depend upon the nature of the decision and the stage the case has reached, so obtaining advice promptly can be important.

It is also sensible to retain clear records of correspondence with the CMS, calculations received, payments made or received and any evidence relevant to the figures being used.

Child maintenance where there has been domestic abuse

Disputes about money following separation can be particularly difficult where there has been domestic abuse or controlling behaviour.

Financial or economic abuse can continue after a relationship has ended. In some circumstances, withholding money, manipulating financial arrangements or using disputes concerning children and finances as a means of maintaining control can form part of a wider pattern of post-separation abuse.

The BBC investigation itself includes the experience of a mother whose former partner had been abusive and who subsequently stopped making regular maintenance payments.

If you are experiencing domestic abuse, you do not have to deal with the wider legal issues arising from separation alone. Depending upon your circumstances, our Family Law team can advise not only about financial arrangements but also about protective injunctions, arrangements for children and the wider consequences of separation or divorce.

Is the Child Maintenance Service changing?

The Government is planning reforms to the CMS. According to the BBC, the proposed changes include moving parents onto the Collect and Pay system and reducing the fees associated with it. The Department for Work and Pensions has said that the reforms are intended to improve compliance and deliver better outcomes for children.

The proposed changes are significant. A system which reduces the need for parents to manage payments directly between themselves could be particularly beneficial in cases where communication is difficult or where there has been domestic or economic abuse. It may also provide greater oversight of whether maintenance is actually being paid.

However, the experiences highlighted by Panorama demonstrate that the effectiveness of any reformed system will ultimately depend upon how it operates in practice. Moving more families onto Collect and Pay will inevitably place greater responsibility on the CMS to calculate, collect and transfer maintenance accurately and promptly.

This is particularly important given the scale of the existing caseload. The BBC reports that the CMS is already overseeing more than 800,000 cases involving more than one million children and that its caseload has increased by around 300,000 in five years. In the first three months of 2026, there were also almost 61,000 Collect and Pay cases in which no payment at all was made, affecting approximately 86,000 children.

Reducing the fees associated with Collect and Pay is likely to be welcomed by many parents. Under the present system, the BBC reports that the paying parent is charged an additional 20%, while the receiving parent loses 4% of the maintenance they would otherwise receive. For a receiving parent already struggling to meet a child’s everyday needs, any deduction from maintenance can be significant.

The proposed reforms therefore have the potential to make an important difference. However, reform of the collection mechanism alone will not necessarily resolve concerns about delays, incorrect assessments or the effective enforcement of arrears. Adequate resources, accurate decision-making and timely enforcement will be essential if the changes are to achieve their stated aim of improving outcomes for children.

For separated parents, the key issue will be whether the reforms result in a system that delivers the correct maintenance reliably and on time. Ultimately, child maintenance exists for the benefit of children, and any reform should be judged by how effectively it ensures that they receive the financial support to which they are entitled.

Can child maintenance be agreed without the CMS?

Not every separated family needs to rely on the CMS.

Some parents are able to reach a private or family-based arrangement about child maintenance. This can provide greater flexibility and may allow parents to agree arrangements that better reflect their children’s particular circumstances.

However, informal arrangements are not appropriate in every case. Where communication has broken down, there is a history of abuse or coercive control, one parent is concerned that the other’s income is not being disclosed accurately, or payments have previously been unreliable, specialist advice can be particularly valuable.

It is also important to recognise that, in some circumstances, the CMS does not represent the full extent of the financial provision that may be available for a child.

When might the court make additional financial provision for a child?

Depending on the family’s circumstances, it may be possible to seek financial provision for a child through the family court under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989.

Schedule 1 can be particularly important for separated parents who need to address financial provision for their children outside, or in addition to, the ordinary child maintenance regime. It can also be especially relevant for unmarried parents because the financial claims available following the breakdown of an unmarried relationship are very different from those available on divorce or dissolution.

What can the court order under Schedule 1?

The court has a range of powers under Schedule 1. Depending on the circumstances, these can include:

• lump sum payments to meet particular expenses or financial needs of a child;
• the transfer or settlement of property for the benefit of a child, which can be particularly relevant where suitable housing needs to be secured;
• periodical payments, where the court has jurisdiction to make them; and
• financial provision towards certain expenses connected with a child’s education or other particular needs.

A Schedule 1 application may therefore be relevant where a child’s financial needs extend beyond the regular day-to-day expenditure ordinarily addressed by child maintenance.

Housing and Schedule 1 claims

Housing is often one of the most significant issues for a family following separation.

In an appropriate case, Schedule 1 can enable the court to make provision to ensure that a child and the parent with whom they live have suitable accommodation. This can include an order transferring or settling property for the child’s benefit.

There is an important distinction between this type of provision and the redistribution of assets which may take place following divorce. A Schedule 1 claim is focused upon meeting the needs of the child, rather than providing a financial award to one parent simply because the relationship has ended.

Depending upon how an order is structured, property provided for the benefit of a child may ultimately revert to the parent who provided it once the relevant circumstances come to an end, for example when the child reaches adulthood or completes their education.

This is a specialist area and the appropriate outcome will depend upon the financial circumstances of both parents and the child’s present and future needs.

What if the paying parent is a high earner?

The interaction between the CMS and the family court can be particularly important where the paying parent has a high income.

There is a statutory limit on the income that can be taken into account for the purposes of the CMS calculation. Where the relevant requirements are satisfied and the paying parent’s income exceeds the level covered by the CMS assessment, it may be possible to ask the court to make an additional order for periodical payments. This is commonly referred to as a “top-up” maintenance order.

This can be relevant where the child’s reasonable needs and the family’s overall financial circumstances justify maintenance beyond the amount available through the CMS calculation.

The court can also have jurisdiction in particular circumstances relating to educational expenses or expenses attributable to a child’s disability.

Is a Schedule 1 claim right for my family?

Whether a Schedule 1 application is appropriate will depend upon the individual circumstances, including the child’s needs, the parents’ respective financial positions, any existing CMS assessment and the particular financial provision being sought.

Obtaining advice at an early stage can be helpful in identifying whether the issue falls within the CMS regime, whether the court may have jurisdiction under Schedule 1, or whether a negotiated agreement could provide a more appropriate solution.

How can Hugh James help?

Child maintenance disputes can become complicated very quickly, particularly when they arise alongside divorce proceedings, disagreements about wider family finances, arrangements for children or the breakdown of an unmarried relationship.

Our specialist Family Law team at Hugh James can advise both receiving and paying parents on their legal position and the options available to them.

We can assist with issues including:

• understanding how child maintenance interacts with the wider financial arrangements following divorce or separation;
• advising on private child maintenance arrangements and how these can be documented;
• advising on applications under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989 for additional financial provision for children, including potential housing, lump sum and top-up maintenance claims where appropriate;
• considering the interaction between an existing CMS assessment and the family court’s jurisdiction;
• advising unmarried parents on financial provision for their children following separation;
• advising where child maintenance forms part of wider negotiations concerning family finances;
• helping clients understand their options where there are concerns about domestic or economic abuse; and
• advising on the broader issues that commonly arise following separation, including divorce, financial settlements and arrangements for children.