The current Child Maintenance Service (CMS) calculation model is based largely on a sliding percentage of the paying parent’s gross income. While the intention is to ensure children benefit from both parents, in practice this system creates several unfair and unintended outcomes.

Firstly, automatic increases tied solely to income progression penalise parents for career development, even when a child’s actual needs and lifestyle have not materially changed. A pay rise does not automatically result in increased child-related costs, particularly where the child’s living arrangements, schooling, and day-to-day expenses remain the same.

Secondly, there is currently no meaningful upper cap that reflects reasonable child needs. Beyond a certain income threshold, maintenance payments can increase significantly without any evidence that additional funds are required for the child’s welfare. This leads to situations where maintenance functions more as income redistribution between adults rather than targeted child support.

Thirdly, there is no transparency or accountability regarding how maintenance payments are used. While many receiving parents act responsibly, the system provides no mechanism to ensure funds are being spent primarily on the child’s needs. This undermines trust and creates ongoing conflict between parents.

Finally, the system does not adequately recognise that paying parents who are actively involved in their child’s life already contribute directly to their child’s quality of life through time spent together, experiences, and household provision during contact periods.

We call on the Government to reform child maintenance by:

• Introducing reasonable upper caps linked to assessed child needs
  Incorporating a needs-based element rather than automatic income scaling
• Allowing consideration of significant direct contributions (e.g. education, childcare, major expenses)
• Exploring proportionate transparency measures for high-value maintenance cases

These reforms would retain strong child protection while creating a fairer, more balanced, and less adversarial system for modern families.