Every parliamentary written question tabled by Steff Aquarone this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1–14 of 14 · Department for Work and Pensions
What proportion of enquiries from MPs to the Child Maintenance Service were responded to within 15 working days in a). 2024, b). 2025 and c). 2026 to date.
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the termination of the UK–Australia social security agreement in 2001 on UK citizens who return from Australia after long periods of work there; and whether the Government has considered reviewing the policy or providing support for returners who are unable to access either the Australian Age Pension or a UK State Pension.
The Government currently has no plans to reinstate or negotiate a new reciprocal social security agreement with Australia. Support for pensioners who, for whatever reason, find themselves on a low income is provided through Pension Credit. It guarantees a minimum level of income – the Standard Minimum Guarantee – which will increase by 4.8% from April 2026, protecting the most vulnerable pensioners. They may also have access to other forms of UK support subject to the usual eligibility rules, such as Housing Benefit (if in eligible accommodation) or Council Tax Reduction These provisions operate independently of the former UK–Australia agreement and remain available to anyone who meets the eligibility requirements.
What safeguards are in place to ensure that parties appearing before the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal are informed of any material change in the nature of allegations made against them during proceedings: and what recourse is available when a change is not properly disclosed or explained.
The Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) Tribunal’s job is to establish if DWP’s decision was correct when it was originally made. As such, allegations are not part of the proceedings. DWP lapsing a decision, which is where the department finds in a claimant’s favour before their appeal is heard by a tribunal, is the only situation in which the DWP could be considered to make a material change to its understanding of the case during proceedings. This change can only be made in the claimant’s favour and would be notified in writing to the claimant with accompanying appeal rights.
Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of his Departments policies relating to Maternity Allowance on women in rural and coastal labour markets in the context of the prevalence of seasonal, part-time or based on short-term contracts in those areas.
The Government provides a range of state-funded support for new parents depending on individual circumstances. Maternity Allowance is a benefit for women who are working, or have worked recently, but who do not qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay. To ensure that it caters for different types of working arrangements the qualifying conditions for Maternity Allowance are flexible. Maternity Allowance claimants must have worked for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks prior to the expected week of childbirth but that work does not have to be for the same employer, continuous, or undertaken on the same basis. Agency workers and women on zero-hours contracts are also eligible. To calculate the rate of Maternity Allowance women’s earnings are averaged over 13 weeks within their 66-week test period. The 13 weeks do not need to be consecutive, and women can select their highest-earning weeks to increase the rate of Maternity Allowance they will receive. The Government has also committed to review the parental leave and pay system.
What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of treating Maternity Allowance as unearned income for the purposes of Universal Credit on working mothers who are not eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay.
The Government has committed to review the parental leave and pay system.
Whether the child maintenance service provides (a) oversight and (b) review mechanisms to help ensure (i) consistency and (ii) accountability in the application of caseworker discretion to arrears repayment schedules.
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) adheres to the DWP Quality Framework, which deploys a three-line defence model for all decisions affecting the calculation and payment of maintenance.The Debt Steer provides a policy-based framework for arrears negotiation. Its purpose is to ensure arrears are collected as promptly and reliably as possible, taking into account all relevant circumstances and financial situation.Operational instructions and the Child Maintenance Decision Makers’ Guide are the tools used by caseworkers in applying a discretionary decision to negotiate an arrangement that extends beyond a two-year period, to ensure a reliable and sustainable plan for the payment of arrears by the paying parent in the shortest possible period of time. When the CMS makes a discretionary decision, caseworkers must consider the welfare of any child affected by that decision.
What steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Child Maintenance Service adheres to its debt steer principle that arrears should be repaid within a maximum of two years.
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) operates on the principle that both parents have financial responsibility for their child, including their food and clothing, as well as contributing towards the associated costs of running the home that the child lives in.When a paying parent does not make maintenance payments on time or in full, the CMS will initially negotiate a payment that is feasible for the parent to pay considering the individual circumstances of each case.The Debt Steer provides a policy-based framework for arrears negotiation. Its purpose is to ensure arrears are collected as promptly and reliably as possible taking into account all relevant circumstances.After investigating the paying parent’s circumstances and financial situation discretion can be applied to negotiate an arrangement that extends beyond a two-year period, providing it is a reliable and consistent plan for the recovery of arrears.When the CMS makes a discretionary decision, caseworkers must consider the welfare of any child affected by that decision.If this is unsuccessful and the paying parent is employed, the CMS can request that ongoing child maintenance payments be deducted directly from their salary by issuing what we call a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO). The CMS also has powers to deduct maintenance from a wide range of bank accounts including joint and business accounts.If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures including order for sale where it can apply to the courts for the sale of the paying parent’s assets or property, removing driving licences, disqualification of passports and committal to prison.
What processes the Child Maintenance Service has in place to verify claims of financial hardship made by paying parents when arrears repayment schedules are extended beyond the two-year debt steer principle.
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) operates on the principle that both parents have financial responsibility for their child, including their food and clothing, as well as contributing towards the associated costs of running the home that the child lives in.When a paying parent does not make maintenance payments on time or in full, the CMS will initially negotiate a payment that is feasible for the parent to pay considering the individual circumstances of each case.The Debt Steer provides a policy-based framework for arrears negotiation. Its purpose is to ensure arrears are collected as promptly and reliably as possible taking into account all relevant circumstances.After investigating the paying parent’s circumstances and financial situation discretion can be applied to negotiate an arrangement that extends beyond a two-year period, providing it is a reliable and consistent plan for the recovery of arrears.When the CMS makes a discretionary decision, caseworkers must consider the welfare of any child affected by that decision.If this is unsuccessful and the paying parent is employed, the CMS can request that ongoing child maintenance payments be deducted directly from their salary by issuing what we call a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO). The CMS also has powers to deduct maintenance from a wide range of bank accounts including joint and business accounts.If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures including order for sale where it can apply to the courts for the sale of the paying parent’s assets or property, removing driving licences, disqualification of passports and committal to prison.
What steps are taken by the Child Maintenance Service to assess the impact on the welfare of children when arrears repayment schedules are extended beyond the two-year debt steer principle.
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) operates on the principle that both parents have financial responsibility for their child, including their food and clothing, as well as contributing towards the associated costs of running the home that the child lives in.When a paying parent does not make maintenance payments on time or in full, the CMS will initially negotiate a payment that is feasible for the parent to pay considering the individual circumstances of each case.The Debt Steer provides a policy-based framework for arrears negotiation. Its purpose is to ensure arrears are collected as promptly and reliably as possible taking into account all relevant circumstances.After investigating the paying parent’s circumstances and financial situation discretion can be applied to negotiate an arrangement that extends beyond a two-year period, providing it is a reliable and consistent plan for the recovery of arrears.When the CMS makes a discretionary decision, caseworkers must consider the welfare of any child affected by that decision.If this is unsuccessful and the paying parent is employed, the CMS can request that ongoing child maintenance payments be deducted directly from their salary by issuing what we call a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO). The CMS also has powers to deduct maintenance from a wide range of bank accounts including joint and business accounts.If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures including order for sale where it can apply to the courts for the sale of the paying parent’s assets or property, removing driving licences, disqualification of passports and committal to prison.
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of HMRC confidentiality rules on the ability of the Child Maintenance Service to (a) suspend and (b) revise liability, where possible fraudulent child benefit claims are under investigation by HMRC.
To qualify for maintenance payments a child must meet the Child Maintenance Service's criteria. They must be:under 20 years of age andin full time non-advanced education or approved training, andeligible for Child Benefit. They must also be habitually resident in the UK and usually living in the same household as the receiving parent. Child maintenance defines a child the same way as Child Benefit does to offer consistency across rules. Child benefit is not used as a blunt tool in determining who may be considered a receiving parent and the CMS can consider multiple different forms of evidence when determining who is the primary carer. If a paying parent believes that the Child Maintenance (CM) liability should cease because a qualifying child (QC) no longer meets the statutory definition of a qualifying young person but checks with His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) disagree, the CM caseworker can ask the receiving parent to provide;1. verbal confirmation of the QCs status if they agree that the paying parent’s statement is correct, or2. where they disagree with the paying parent, a letter from the school or college confirming the QCs status, or3. written confirmation from an employer that the QC has started work. Where the paying parent believes that Child Benefit is claimed fraudulently, the paying parent will be signposted to report the fraud to HMRC at Gov.UK. Child Maintenance Service make automated monthly requests to HMRC asking for all children aged 16 to 19 who are included in its caseload, to establish whether Child Benefit is still in payment. The CMS has a Financial Investigations Unit (FIU), that can investigate complex cases. This is a specialist team which can investigate the accuracy of information the CMS is given by either parent.
What steps she is taking to ensure the Child Maintenance Service adheres to its debt steer principles.
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) operates on the principle that both parents have financial responsibility for their child, including their food and clothing, as well as contributing towards the associated costs of running the home that the child lives in.When a paying parent does not make maintenance payments on time or in full, the CMS will initially negotiate a payment that is feasible for the parent to pay, taking into account the individual circumstances of each case.The Debt Steer provides a policy-based framework for arrears negotiation. Its purpose is to ensure arrears are collected as promptly and reliably as possible, taking into account all relevant circumstances i.e. full arrears payment by one lump sum, partial lump sum payment and a schedule of on-going payments to recover any remaining arrears within a maximum of two years, and a schedule of on-going payments to recover the full arrears within two years.After investigating the paying parent’s circumstances and financial situation, discretion can be applied to negotiate an arrangement that extends beyond a two-year period, providing it is a reliable and consistent plan for the recovery of arrears.If this is unsuccessful and the paying parent is employed, the CMS can request that ongoing child maintenance payments be deducted directly from their salary by issuing what we call a Deductions from Earnings Order (DEO). A DEO instructs an employer to make deductions from the paying parent’s earnings and pay the amounts to the CMS who will pass this onto the receiving parent. The CMS also has powers to deduct maintenance from a wide range of bank accounts including joint and business accounts.If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures, including order for sale, where it can apply to the courts for the sale of the paying parent’s assets or property, removal of driving licences, disqualification of passports, and committal to prison.
Pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 8343 on Universal Credit, what progress his Department has made on reviewing Universal Credit in the context of rent charging years with 53 Mondays.
The Department will be considering the issue of rent charging years with 53 Mondays as part of its wider Universal Credit Review. The Department is committed to reviewing Universal Credit to make sure it is doing the job we want it to and meeting our objectives of making work pay and tackling poverty. We have already begun this work with the introduction of the new fair repayment rate announced in the Budget. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders as the review progresses to seek views on proposed areas of focus and untapped opportunities in UC. Parliament will be updated on progress and future changes accordingly.
What proportion of the total cost of running Personal Independence Payment is spent on the provision of face-to-face and over the phone assessments.
The information requested is not held by the Department. For both the legacy Personal Independence Payment contracts (that completed on 6 September 2024) and the new Functional Assessment Service contracts, providers do not/did not split their costs by service channel. Under the new Functional Assessment Service contracts, the costs provided by the Suppliers are not split between the individual service elements (ie Personal Independence payments, Work Capability Assessments and Specialist Benefits).
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of 53 Mondays in this financial year on rent payments for Universal Credit claimants .
The current financial year, which runs from 06/04/24 to 05/04/25, does not contain 53 Mondays. Universal Credit always converts weekly amounts to monthly sums using 52 weeks. The legitimacy of this approach was confirmed by the High Court having been tested via a judicial review. Every five or six years, weekly tenants may have a rent charging year containing 53 charging days. This will not apply in all cases and some claimants will not have a 53-week charging year during the life of their benefit claim. The rent charging year beginning 1 April 2024 and ending on 6 April 2025 is one such year and is of a period which exceeds one calendar year and is not aligned to a financial year. The 53rd payment covers the tenancy for part of the following calendar year. Most people in work are paid monthly, as is Universal Credit, and they budget for their outgoings on a monthly basis. Weekly rental liabilities do not map directly onto a monthly cycle and this creates budgeting complexities for tenants. They will be required to make only four payments of rent in some months but five payments in others even though their monthly income remains constant. This problem exists in all rent charging years, not just those with 53 Mondays. The Government will consider this issue as part of its wider work on Universal Credit.