Bill to ensure victims of domestic abuse can receive child maintenance without contact from their abuser receives Royal Assent

However, Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act 2023 does not address recommendation from MPs to waive collection fees for parents who have suffered domestic abuse

A Bill to ensure that victims of domestic abuse can receive child maintenance without contact from their abuser has received Royal Assent.

The Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act 2023 will allow the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to intervene in cases where abuse is evident, using its powers to collect and make payments though its managed payment Collect and Pay service.

Having been approved by Parliament on 16 June 2023, after the Bill received cross-party support throughout its passing, its provisions build on the CMS’s existing procedures to protect both paying and receiving parents who are vulnerable to domestic abuse, and follows recommendations by a leading expert on domestic abuse, Dr Samantha Callan, who led an independent review into the CMS’s support for victims.

However, the Act does not include provision to waive Collect and Pay fees for parents who have suffered domestic abuse – as recommended by the Work and Pensions Select Committee in its April 2023 report Children in poverty: Child Maintenance Service.

DWP Minister Viscount Younger said today –

'Domestic abuse and coercive control are abhorrent crimes. This positive change will enhance our existing support for domestic abuse victims and ensure they can make a child maintenance claim without the fear of having to deal with an abusive ex-partner.'

Dr Samantha Callan said –

'I am heartened that the Government have so quickly legislated to strengthen support for parents experiencing domestic abuse following my Review. This extra layer of protection for both parents and children was an important one of my recommendations to build on the CMS’s substantial reform in this area.'

For more information, see New law to ensure domestic abuse victims receive child maintenance gets Royal Assent from gov.uk

Update (30 June 2023) – in a letter to Baroness Burt of Solihull added to the Commons Library today (dated 10 May 2023), DWP Minister Viscount Younger confirmed, following the second reading debate of the Bill in the House of Lords, that the government believes that charging is the right approach for current CMS Collect and Pay service users. However, he also says that the issue of fees charged to receiving parents who choose to use the service as a result of experiencing domestic abuse will be considered in the development of secondary legislation to implement the measures under the new Act.