The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission was a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...

established to take responsibility for the child maintenance system in Great Britain. The Commission’s primary objective was to maximise the number of effective child maintenance arrangements (private or statutory) in place for children who live apart from their parents. Under the

2010 UK quango reforms Following the 2010 United Kingdom general election, the UK Government under the Cameron–Clegg coalition announced plans to curb public spending through the abolition of a large number of quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations (quangos). ...

, the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission became the

Child Maintenance Group The Child Maintenance Group (CMG) is a department and function of the Department for Work and Pensions in Great Britain and the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland. Launched in 2012 to replace its predecessor, the Child Maintenance and ...

external organisation working for the

Department for Work and Pensions , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

, who now have responsibility for its functions.

Functions

The Commission had three publicly stated functions: * to promote the financial responsibility that parents have for their children; * to provide information and support on the different maintenance options (

Child Maintenance Options Child Maintenance Options is an information and support service that gives free and impartial help to separating or separated parents in Great Britain so they can make informed choices about child maintenance. The service discusses the different o ...

); * to provide an efficient statutory child maintenance service with effective enforcement (

Child Support Agency The Child Support Agency (CSA) was a delivery arm of the Department for Work and Pensions (Child Maintenance Group) in Great Britain and the former Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland. Launched on 5 April 1993, the CSA was to ...

History

During 2008, the Commission began to offer information and support on the different child maintenance options available to parents. The Commission also provided an efficient statutory child maintenance service with improved assessment, collection and enforcement processes. The new enforcement powers were introduced from 2009/10. These changes aimed to ensure parents take responsibility for providing financial support for their children where they have access to them, or indeed do not. The Commission was abolished on 30 July 2012, but despite its functions being subsumed back into the

, the 'Child Maintenance Group' continues to operate using the client-facing brand name of the

for those using the 1993 and 2003 statutory schemes. The new '2012 Scheme' is branded as the Child Maintenance Service and began limited intake of new cases on 10 December 2012.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Defunct non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Department for Work and Pensions Child support Child welfare in the United Kingdom Family law in the United Kingdom 2008 establishments in the United Kingdom