The Government’s CMS Reforms: A Positive Step Forward – But They Must Go Further

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The Government has announced significant reforms to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), including plans to move towards a single monitored payment service rather than the current system of Direct Pay and Collect and Pay.

The children’s charity Gingerbread has welcomed these proposals and has written an open letter to Baroness Sherlock, the Minister responsible for the CMS, outlining five core principles that should underpin the reforms.

These recommendations are an important contribution to the debate and recognise that effective child maintenance is about far more than collecting money — it is about reducing child poverty, protecting families, and ensuring children receive the financial support they are entitled to.

However, while these reforms represent genuine progress, there remain important gaps that should also be addressed if the Government wishes to create a fair, transparent and modern child maintenance system.

Why reform is needed

For many separated families, the current CMS system does not work as intended.

Some parents receive regular maintenance, while others experience years of missed payments, prolonged disputes or enforcement delays. In more complex cases involving self-employed parents, company directors or hidden income, families can spend years trying to establish an accurate financial picture.

The Government has already recognised that income assessments need to become more robust by considering non-PAYE income such as dividends, rental income, investments and other sources of earnings. This is a significant policy shift that acknowledges long-standing concerns raised by parents and campaigners.

At the same time, reforms to how maintenance payments are managed could improve compliance and provide greater protection for vulnerable families.

Gingerbread’s Five Core Principles

1. Harness the full potential of CMS to reduce child poverty

Child maintenance is one of the most effective ways of reducing child poverty.

Research has shown that where child maintenance is received, child poverty can be reduced by around 25%.

Around 43% of children in single-parent families live in poverty, demonstrating how important effective maintenance arrangements are in improving children’s lives.

2. Clear communication for every family

Large-scale reform only succeeds if families understand it.

Parents should receive clear, accessible and timely information explaining what is changing, when changes will happen, how payments will work and what support is available. Without effective communication, confusion could undermine confidence in any new system.

3. Support for families leaving the CMS

Some families may choose to leave the CMS once reforms are introduced.

Where this happens, appropriate monitoring should ensure those families do not fall into unsafe private arrangements or lose maintenance altogether. This is particularly important where there has been domestic abuse, coercive control or financial abuse.

4. Provide sufficient resources

Moving thousands of Direct Pay cases into a monitored collection service will require significant investment.

Without sufficient staff and resources, families may experience longer waiting times, payment delays, slower enforcement and reduced customer service.

Successful reform requires investment as well as legislation.

5. Measure success properly

Reform should be judged by outcomes, not announcements.

The Government should publish measurable indicators including compliance rates, enforcement performance, reductions in child poverty, successful payment transfers and customer satisfaction.

Transparency builds public confidence and allows continuous improvement.

Domestic abuse must remain at the centre of reform

One of the strongest aspects of Gingerbread’s proposals is its emphasis on protecting survivors of domestic abuse.

The organisation also calls for immediate implementation of the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act 2023, ensuring that victim-survivors are not required to remain on Direct Pay while wider reforms are being developed.

This recognises that child maintenance arrangements should never place survivors at greater risk.

When Child Arrangements and Child Maintenance Become Intertwined

Although child maintenance and child arrangements are legally separate, many parents experience disputes where the two issues become closely connected.

Some parents allege that contact with their children has been restricted or frustrated during disputes about finances. Others raise genuine concerns about domestic abuse, coercive control or safeguarding that make restrictions on contact necessary.

These situations are often highly complex and should never be approached with assumptions. Every case should be considered on its own facts and supported by evidence.

When child arrangements become prolonged and unresolved, conflict can escalate.

Parents may face lengthy court proceedings, repeated CMS reviews and increasing financial pressures. In some families, this combination can contribute to significant emotional strain, affect mental wellbeing and increase conflict, ultimately impacting the children involved.

This is why an early mandatory triage assessment could play a vital role.

Rather than allowing disputes to continue for months or even years, a structured assessment at the beginning of a case could identify:-

• Domestic abuse

• Coercive control

• Financial abuse

• Safeguarding concerns

• Complex financial arrangements

• Disputed child arrangements; and

• Cases requiring enhanced investigation

Early identification would enable professionals to distinguish between genuine welfare concerns and other complex issues, ensuring that the right agencies become involved at the right time.

It would also support quicker decision-making, improve communication between agencies and reduce unnecessary conflict.

Children should never become caught in disputes about money. Likewise, financial disagreements should never determine child arrangements. Both systems must work together to ensure that decisions are based on evidence and that the child’s welfare remains the paramount consideration.

Important reforms that are still missing

Although these proposals are welcome, there remain significant issues that require further attention.

Complex income cases

Many disputes arise because income does not come solely through PAYE employment.

Some parents receive income through dividends, limited companies, rental properties, investments, retained company profits or directors’ loans.

If these forms of income are not identified early, maintenance calculations may not accurately reflect a parent’s true financial circumstances.

The Government has already acknowledged the need to reform how non-PAYE income is considered. This work should remain a priority.

Earlier identification of complex cases

One area that still requires attention is the absence of an early assessment process.

A mandatory triage assessment at the start of a CMS application could identify cases involving domestic abuse, coercive control, financial abuse, disputed child arrangements, hidden income, business ownership and safeguarding concerns.

By identifying complexity at the outset, cases could be directed to enhanced investigation sooner, reducing delays, conflict and repeated reviews.

Mental health and prolonged conflict

Long-running child maintenance disputes can have a profound emotional impact on both paying and receiving parents.

Financial uncertainty, repeated disputes and unresolved conflict can contribute to stress, anxiety and deteriorating mental wellbeing.

Reducing delays and resolving complex cases earlier would benefit not only parents but, most importantly, their children.

Looking ahead

The Government’s proposed reforms represent one of the most significant changes to the Child Maintenance Service in many years.

Gingerbread’s five principles provide a sensible framework for implementing those reforms fairly and effectively.

However, meaningful reform should extend beyond how payments are collected. It should also improve how cases are assessed, how complex income is investigated and how vulnerable families are identified at the earliest possible stage.

A modern Child Maintenance Service should combine robust financial transparency, effective enforcement, early triage of complex cases and strong safeguards for families affected by domestic abuse and coercive control.

If these reforms are implemented comprehensively, they have the potential not only to improve compliance but also to reduce conflict, tackle child poverty, strengthen confidence in the system and ensure that children receive the financial support they deserve.

At DN Family Law, we believe every child has the right to fair financial support, every parent deserves a transparent and accountable system, and every complex case should be identified early through a mandatory triage assessment.

True reform is not simply about changing how payments are made — it is about creating a child maintenance system that is fair, evidence-based and centred on the welfare of children.

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Deanna Newell | Founder | DN Family Law

Advocacy for truth-tellers, survivors, and the children who deserve better