Reform Child Maintenance Service enforcement to prevent repeated non-payment
At present, parents who fail to pay through Direct Pay can be moved onto a Deduction from Earnings Order (DEO), but can default back to DP even with a history of non-payment. Enabling repeated defaulting, leaving children and resident parents without financial support for upto 3 months at a time.
Signatures
21
signatures
Government response threshold (10,000) · 21/10,000
Debate threshold (100,000) · 21/100,000
- 27 OCT 2025Petition rejectedduplicate
The following petition calls for a similar action: Take stronger measures to enforce payment of child maintenance arrears. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/739525
- 01 OCT 2025Petition created
Background
Ensure once a DEO is in place it remains until arrears are cleared and a consistent record of payment is established.
Prevent non-paying parents from defaulting to DP.
Strengthen penalties for persistent non-payment.
Enforcing maintenance obligations consistently and promptly, will protect children from financial harm.
Children are disadvantaged because the system allows repeated non-payment.
Close the loopholes and ensure maintenance obligations are enforced effectively.