One of the purposes of the reforms introducing the Child Maintenance Service was to increase the number of effective arrangements between parents. There is a paucity of data on how many Direct Pay arrangements are effective, which in turn obscures the level of child maintenance not being paid. This inhibits the ability of the Department to demonstrate the ability of the system to meet policy objectives. The Department should proactively monitor the effectiveness of Direct Pay arrangements and...

One of the purposes of the reforms introducing the Child Maintenance Service was to increase the number of effective arrangements between parents. There is a paucity of data on how many Direct Pay arrangements are effective, which in turn obscures the level of child maintenance not being paid. This inhibits the ability of the Department to demonstrate the ability of the system to meet policy objectives. The Department should proactively monitor the effectiveness of Direct Pay arrangements and report regularly on the number of such arrangements that are effective. An initial survey should take place no later than six months after the Direct Pa Type: conclusion | Number: 2 | Paragraph: 24 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) has conducted two large-scale research projects on the Direct Pay service, one published in 2016 and a follow-up project published in 2022. The surveys show that many arrangements switch to the Collect