Child Maintenance Service ‘enabling economic abuse’ as record number of domestic violence victims apply

The Child Maintenance Service in Britain is not fit for purpose and enables economic abuse of domestic violence victims, campaigners have told NationalWorld.

Domestic abuse charity Refuge said the current system is pushing women and children into financial hardship and poverty and called for the system to be reformed.

The statement comes as new government figures show a record number of domestic abuse victims are turning to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to seek financial support from ex-partners.

The latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shows a surge in victims of domestic abuse seeking to set up child support arrangements earlier this year. In the three months to March 2022, CMS application fees were waived for parents more than 15,000 times because of domestic abuse, the highest on record.

When applying, parents have to pay a £20 application fee, however this is voided when the application is from a victim of domestic abuse or if the parent making the application is aged under 19. Exemptions made up 60% of all applications in March 2022, of which 99% were in relation to domestic abuse.

Since 2015 (when current records began) over 316,000 fee exemptions have been granted to abuse victims, totalling to £6.3 million in waived fees. The Child Maintenance Service only began preemptively asking parents if they had experienced domestic abuse in May 2018.

Separate analysis by NationalWorld shows almost 100,000 parents are behind on payments, although there is no breakdown by victim status. The payment arrears mean almost 155,000 children are financially unsupported at a time when the cost of living crisis worsens across Britain.

‘CMS doing nothing to enforce payment’

Ruth Davison, CEO of Refuge, said the charity regularly supports survivors of domestic abuse who have said their perpetrators refuse to pay child support.

“Withholding child maintenance payments is a form of economic abuse and is often used to exert further control over a survivor post-separation,” Ms Davison said.

“As recent DWP figures show more survivors of abuse are seeking child maintenance, it is vital that Child Maintenance Service staff receive specialist domestic abuse training to enable them to support these survivors.

“Currently the Child Maintenance Service is not fit for purpose. Refuge repeatedly hears from survivors that perpetrators are not paying child support and that the Child Maintenance Service is doing nothing to enforce the payment - forcing women and children into financial hardship and poverty.

“The system needs reform if it is to work for survivors and not expose them to further abuse and financial insecurity.”

Supporting vulnerable clients

The DWP said it takes the issue of domestic abuse seriously and is committed to ensuring parents get the help and support they need.

A spokesperson said: “All CMS caseworkers have received specific training on domestic abuse, so they can quickly identify parents in this group and provide appropriate support. In particular, caseworkers use a complex needs toolkit which provides clear steps to take in order to support vulnerable clients who are facing domestic abuse. It is the Service’s priority to handle these cases in a sensitive manner.

“The CMS can act as an intermediary for parents to facilitate the exchange of bank details and to ensure that personal information is not shared. The CMS will also provide information to parents on how to set up a bank account with a centralised sort code which cannot be traced.”

If you are experiencing domestic abuse contact the freephone, 24 hour National Domestic Abuse hotline on 0808 2000 247 for confidential advice.