Parents will be protected from having direct contact with abusive ex-partners when claiming child maintenance payments under new reforms announced by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).
Parents using the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) will be allowed to opt for the Collect and Pay system, which passes payments from one parent to the other, without the consent of an abusive ex-partner. It means domestic abuse survivors will not have to deal with the Direct Pay system, where a parent pays the other parent directly. Prior to the reforms, both parents had to agree to use the collect and pay system.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which is responsible for the CMS, said the proposals will stop perpetrators from using child maintenance as a form of financial abuse and control.
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The reforms come after the publication of a Government review into CMS support for parents who had experienced domestic abuse was delayed by nine months. The review followed the tragic death of Emma Day, who was murdered by her ex-partner Mark Morris in a busy South London street, and reviews concluded the CMS’s failings led to the tragedy.
Ms Day was stabbed to death as she walked home from the school run on May 25, 2017. Ms Day had started a child maintenance claim in November 2016 but withdrew it, telling the case worker she had been threatened by Morris. A further claim stalled between January 2017 and shortly before her death. A court heard that Morris threatened Ms Day’s life repeatedly before the murder, vowing: “I’ll go to prison before you get a penny from me.”
An inquest heard that DWP case workers knew of threats to Ms Day, but the system to raise the alarm and protect her “fell down”. Coroner Andrew Harris called for Government action to ensure victims are protected in future. Lorna McNamara, the sister of Ms Day, said: “Over the last five years this process has felt never ending at times. But I’m pleased - I can see how the recommendations are linked to the failings they made with Emma.”
Parents who use the CMS have a choice of two payment arrangements. Direct Pay, where the CMS works out the calculation and parents arrange payments between themselves when both parents agree and Collect and Pay, where the CMS collects payments from a paying parent and passes it onto the receiving payment for a fee.
The CMS will also have new powers to report suspected cases of financial coercion to the Crown Prosecution Service. Other reforms include further domestic abuse training and the removal of the requirement to report domestic abuse to qualify for the waiving of the £20 administrative fee. The service will also pilot single-named caseworkers for complex domestic abuse cases.
Minister for Work and Pensions Viscount Younger of Leckie said: “Domestic abuse is an abhorrent crime and we are doing everything in our power to support survivors to make child maintenance claims safely and without fear. We have strengthened the ways in which the Child Maintenance Service can support survivors in making a maintenance claim safely.”
Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs said: "Emma Day’s death highlighted the critical role of the Child Maintenance Service in responding to domestic abuse. The proposed changes to the CMS demonstrate the powerful impact that a Domestic Homicide Review can have and why it is so important that lessons are learnt. I am particularly thankful to Emma’s family for all their work to campaign for change."
But experts say more could be done. Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs, CEO and founder of Surviving Economic Abuse said: “It is disappointing to find no mention of exempting domestic abuse survivors from the 4% charge applied to parents receiving payments via Collect and Pay - for many survivors, it is too dangerous to arrange payments with the other parent directly and this charge clearly penalises them for using their only safe option. We call for these charges to be removed.”
A spokesperson for Newcastle Women's Aid said: "We welcome any new measures, which will assist and protect parents who use the CMS from abusive ex-partners. The new measures, proposed, will give survivors of domestic abuse a choice to allow the CMS to collect and make payments on their behalf, without the consent of an abusive ex- partner. In our experience, a lot of women we work with worry about making a claim for child maintenance because of the possible need for contact with their abuser or escalation in risk of further abuse. Tragically, Emma Day’s death has highlighted the role of the Child Maintenance Service in responding to domestic abuse. It is so important to recognise what lessons can be learned and to action them.
"There is not one single agency or service who can “fix” domestic abuse and we all have a role to play in keeping victims safe. Domestic abuse is everyone’s business."
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