Child Support (Enforcement) Bill passes second reading with government support

The Child Support (Enforcement) Bill, introduced by Siobhan Baillie, passed its second reading in the House of Commons on 9 December 2022, and the government intends to support it¹. The Bill would strengthen the enforcement powers of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to reclaim debts built up by non-paying parents¹.

Gingerbread, which campaigns on single-parent issues, said parents have a legal and moral duty to contribute financially to their child's upbringing whether they live with them or not, and that where money is not paid willingly the Child Maintenance Service must step in¹.

Gingerbread cited research showing that 60% of single-parent families living in poverty and not receiving child maintenance would be able to escape the poverty trap if they were paid the money they were owed¹. It said the cost-of-living crisis made that money essential, and that when it is not paid children go without and live with the disadvantage that poverty brings¹. The charity also said the powers must be used to be effective and to protect children from hardship¹.

The sources do not set out the specific enforcement measures contained in the Bill, the timetable for its remaining parliamentary stages, or the amount of unpaid child maintenance owed. Those details have not been reported in the material available.

Why it matters for households

The Bill concerns parents who are owed child maintenance by a non-resident parent and parents who owe it. If it becomes law, the DWP would have stronger powers to recover arrears through the Child Maintenance Service¹. The change would not alter how much maintenance is assessed as payable, only the means by which unpaid amounts can be collected, according to the description given¹.

Gingerbread's figure suggests the sums involved are significant for the households concerned: it estimates that 60% of single-parent families who are in poverty and not receiving child maintenance would leave poverty if the money owed to them were paid¹. That is a statement about the potential effect of arrears being collected, not a forecast of what the Bill will achieve.

The Bill had passed its second reading only, so no enforcement powers had changed as of 9 December 2022¹. Any effect on payments would follow later parliamentary stages and commencement, none of which are dated in the sources.

What happens next

The Bill must complete its remaining stages in the House of Commons and then pass the House of Lords before it can receive Royal Assent. No dates for those stages are given in the sources. The government's stated intention to support the Bill was reported on 9 December 2022¹.

For the wider framework in which enforcement powers and regulators operate, see the site's regulation and policy coverage.