DWP acknowledges delays in Child Maintenance Service and pledges urgent improvements

Criticism of the Child Maintenance Service has grown this year, with parents reporting arrears and administrative errors. Liberal Democrat MP Olly Glover raised a series of unanswered inquiries spanning May to August, prompting a parliamentary query. Lilian Greenwood, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the DWP, acknowledged that the department had not consistently met its own response-time standards.

She announced the deployment of additional staff, enhanced senior supervision and revised case-management processes to improve timeliness. The DWP reaffirmed its 15-working-day target for formal investigations, while noting that more complex matters may require longer but will be communicated. An update on the highlighted case was provided to the MP on 1 September 2026.