The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is delivering a Modernisation Programme to improve customer access, efficiency and transparency. This includes integrated online application services, the My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC) service, which provides customers with online access to case information and payment schedules, and Customer Connect, which enables secure online communication between parents and caseworkers. Telephone and assisted digital support remain available for customers who need additional assistance.

The programme has also introduced improved digital communications, enhanced data sharing to support faster and more accurate maintenance calculations, and predictive analytics to help identify cases at risk of non-compliance, which allows us to review the cases more swiftly and take action to ensure compliance is maintained

The Department continually monitors the effectiveness of the CMS through published statistics and operational performance measures. CMS services are delivered nationally and the Department does not routinely assess effectiveness or performance at parliamentary constituency level.

Safeguarding is of the utmost importance and is embedded throughout the day-to-day delivery of the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). All CMS colleagues are required to complete mandatory domestic abuse training every two years. In the intervening year, colleagues complete a knowledge check, and refresher training is provided where needed. This ensures they maintain the right skills and knowledge when dealing with customers who have experienced domestic abuse. CMS has collaborated with specialist charities and stakeholder organisations to modernise its domestic abuse training so caseworkers can better recognise coercive and controlling behaviour and signpost parents appropriately. The Department continues to work with these stakeholders to review and enhance its guidance, training and signposting resources.

All CMS staff know to refer certain cases to the dedicated Specialist Caseworker team, which provides targeted support for customers experiencing the most challenging or complex domestic abuse situations.

Once the CMS has moved a customer’s case into the Specialist Caseworker team, all inbound calls from that customer will route directly to that team. If the automated call routing cannot identify the customer, their call will go to a different team, but all caseworkers are trained to identify this and will reroute the call to the Specialist Caseworker Team.

CMS has strengthened telephony quality assurance arrangements and provided targeted training for team leaders on service standards, coaching and feedback. These measures are designed to support consistent service delivery and help ensure customers requiring specialist support are identified and transferred appropriately.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is subject to regular independent scrutiny and review.

The CMS has recently been examined by a range of independent bodies, including the National Audit Office, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, and Parliamentary Committees. The Department also commissioned an independent review by Dr Samantha Callan into the CMS's support for victims and survivors of domestic abuse and has taken forward a number of improvements in response to the review's recommendations.

The Government welcomes constructive challenge and recommendations from Parliament, independent reviewers, and oversight bodies, and carefully considers their findings when improving the service. At present, the Government has no plans to commission a further independent review of the CMS.

The Department publishes quarterly CMS complaints statistics, including the number of complaints received and closed, the proportion upheld or partially upheld, and cases considered by the Independent Case Examiner DWP Complaints Statistics - GOV.UK. . Independent scrutiny is also provided through the Independent Case Examiner's annual reports, which set out findings on maladministration and systemic issues identified through complaints.

Additional statistical data is also published in the Child Maintenance Client Funds Accounts Child maintenance: client funds accounts - GOV.UK.

The Department systematically carries out impact assessments on user groups, including within the CMS. It recognises that service issues may affect customers and uses complaints, feedback and operational performance information to identify issues and improve service delivery.

DWP does not maintain data on the average waiting time, or number of claims outstanding, for Home Responsibilities Protection claims specifically. This information is only available at disproportionate cost to DWP.

When an amendment is made by HMRC to a customer's National Insurance record, which results in a change to their State Pension entitlement, the information provided by HMRC does not include the reason for the National Insurance record amendment or whether a customer is known to be vulnerable. Therefore, DWP processes all State Pension reviews based on the datal order of receipt of the notification from HMRC.

The Department aims to respond to complaints within 15 working days or, where a case will take longer than 15 days to respond to, set a resolution plan with the customer where cases are complex and may take longer. A resolution plan is a clear outline of how we will address and resolve a complaint. It sets out what actions will be taken, who is responsible, and the expected timescales for completing these actions.

Complaints about the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) are handled in line with the Department's complaints process. The Department keeps its processes under continual review and continues to improve the customer experience through wider service modernisation and quality improvement activity. As part of CMS’s ambition to continuously improve the service provided to customers, they will look for and action improvements to processes including complaints as part of the normal activities.

The Department recognises the important role of the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) in providing an independent review of complaints where customers remain dissatisfied after exhausting the Department's complaints process. The CMS works closely with ICE and considers the findings and recommendations arising from its investigations to identify opportunities for service improvement and to enhance the service provided to customers.

DWP does not maintain data on the average waiting time, or number of claims outstanding, for Home Responsibilities Protection claims specifically. This information is only available at disproportionate cost to DWP.

When an amendment is made by HMRC to a customer's National Insurance record, which results in a change to their State Pension entitlement, the information provided by HMRC does not include the reason for the National Insurance record amendment or whether a customer is known to be vulnerable. Therefore, DWP processes all State Pension reviews based on the datal order of receipt of the notification from HMRC.

a) From April 2026 to July 2026 it took an average of 125.6 days from the initial date of contact to an Access to Work decision being made. To protect employment opportunities, case managers prioritise the small minority of AtW applications where the customer is due to start a job within four weeks. In 2025, we allocated c. 96% of applications starting work within 4 weeks in 28 days.

b) We recognise the importance of clearing the backlog, which is why, in May 2026, we committed to recruiting and training an additional 360 case managers, and 120 case workers to process the higher volume of applications. That is a 72.5% increase to the existing 658 staff already working on Access to Work. We expect to have cleared the backlog by the end of September 2027.

Recruitment has already begun, and new case managers will undertake a comprehensive and robust learning routeway that lasts for 6 months to enable them to handle complex applications with confidence. All Case Managers need to successfully pass a detailed and robust assessment before they are deemed to have reached the standard required to make application decisions. Onboarding will be phased, with the first candidates starting from 1 September 2026. Management grades have already been recruited across August 2026 and September 2026, to manage and support the new starters.

We are keen to ensure Access to Work remains fair and sustainable. Access to Work is critical for the people it supports, so it is important we take the time to get reforms right so we can deliver real improvements.

The Department for Work and Pensions recognises the important role that Members of Parliament play in supporting their constituents and is committed to responding to parliamentary casework enquiries as quickly as possible.

DWP continually monitors performance against its service standards and reviews operational processes to identify opportunities to improve the timeliness and quality of responses to correspondence from Members of Parliament. This includes monitoring volumes of enquiries, operational pressures and factors affecting response times.

The Department recognises that response times to parliamentary casework enquiries have been affected by increased volumes and the complexity of cases requiring detailed investigation. To address this, the Department has deployed additional resources to correspondence teams, prioritised the reduction of backlogs, strengthened performance monitoring, introduced enhanced senior oversight and improved case management processes and continues to monitor performance against the 15-working-day response target and take action to improve timeliness.

The Department aims to respond to complaints and correspondence enquiries within 15 working days or, where a case will take longer than 15 working days to resolve, agree a resolution plan with the customer. This is particularly relevant where cases are complex and require detailed investigation. A resolution plan is a clear outline of how the Department will address and resolve the issues raised. It sets out the actions to be taken, who is responsible, and the expected timescales for completing those actions.

DWP recognises that some enquiries relate to vulnerable claimants, including those experiencing financial hardship. Existing arrangements, including dedicated MP correspondence channels and MP hotlines, enable urgent cases to be escalated and prioritised where there is evidence of immediate need or risk.

No specific assessment has been made of the financial or mental health impacts arising from delays in responding to parliamentary casework enquiries. However, the Department is committed to supporting vulnerable customers and seeks to ensure that claimants continue to have access to the benefits, services, and support to which they are entitled while enquiries are being considered.

The Department continues to review its correspondence handling arrangements to ensure that parliamentary enquiries are dealt with as effectively and efficiently as possible.

The Department for Work and Pensions recognises the important role that Members of Parliament play in supporting their constituents and is committed to responding to parliamentary casework enquiries as quickly as possible.

DWP continually monitors performance against its service standards and reviews operational processes to identify opportunities to improve the timeliness and quality of responses to correspondence from Members of Parliament. This includes monitoring volumes of enquiries, operational pressures and factors affecting response times.

The Department recognises that response times to parliamentary casework enquiries have been affected by increased volumes and the complexity of cases requiring detailed investigation. To address this, the Department has deployed additional resources to correspondence teams, prioritised the reduction of backlogs, strengthened performance monitoring, introduced enhanced senior oversight and improved case management processes and continues to monitor performance against the 15-working-day response target and take action to improve timeliness.

The Department aims to respond to complaints and correspondence enquiries within 15 working days or, where a case will take longer than 15 working days to resolve, agree a resolution plan with the customer. This is particularly relevant where cases are complex and require detailed investigation. A resolution plan is a clear outline of how the Department will address and resolve the issues raised. It sets out the actions to be taken, who is responsible, and the expected timescales for completing those actions.

DWP recognises that some enquiries relate to vulnerable claimants, including those experiencing financial hardship. Existing arrangements, including dedicated MP correspondence channels and MP hotlines, enable urgent cases to be escalated and prioritised where there is evidence of immediate need or risk.

No specific assessment has been made of the financial or mental health impacts arising from delays in responding to parliamentary casework enquiries. However, the Department is committed to supporting vulnerable customers and seeks to ensure that claimants continue to have access to the benefits, services, and support to which they are entitled while enquiries are being considered.

The Department continues to review its correspondence handling arrangements to ensure that parliamentary enquiries are dealt with as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Access to Work is a discretionary grant scheme and does not operate against published service targets for application processing or renewals.

The time taken to process applications and renewals will vary depending on a range of factors, including the complexity of the case and the provision of evidence from customers.

Access to Work operates a Service Level Agreement for payment processing. The current Service Level Agreement is to process payments within 10 working days of receiving the information required to make a payment.

Complaints are handled in accordance with the Department's complaints procedures. The Department aims to provide a full response to complaints within 15 working days.

The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The total number of cases outstanding at all stages of the Personal Independence Payment Award Review (PIP) process, at the end of May 2026 is 300,000.

Please note this data is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard and represents England and Wales only. The figure has been rounded to the nearest 10,000 cases.

All claims remain in payment whilst award reviews are in progress and award increases identified during a planned review will be backdated as appropriate. Should customers report a change of circumstance and trigger an unplanned review, their claim will be prioritised alongside new claims.

We are committed to ensuring people can access financial support through PIP in a timely manner. Reducing customer journey times for our claimants is a priority for the Department and we are working constantly to make improvements to our service.

We know PIP can be improved, which is why we launched the Timms Review, which is being co-produced with disabled people and their organisations to ensure the benefit is fair and fit for the future. The Review aims to report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in Autumn 2026 and we have committed to reporting its outcomes to Parliament.