📊 Child Maintenance Service Analysis

AML-Governed Analysis • Phase 1 Published

Analysis Date: 1 March 2026 • Duration: 4 hours

✓ AML Governance Applied • Zero AI Drift • Full Audit Trail

Data Provenance

Primary Source: DWP Child Maintenance Service Statistics

Data Period: Jul-Sep 2025 (Q3 2025)

Published: 16 December 2025

Cases Analyzed: 780,600 total arrangements

URL: gov.uk/government/collections/child-maintenance-service-statistics

Analysis Timeline:

• Data acquired: 1 March 2026 19:00

• AML module created: 1 March 2026 20:30

• Analysis complete: 1 March 2026 23:00

• Total duration: 4 hours

Total Arrangements
780,600
Collect and Pay Cases
334,700

42.9% of cases

Annual Fee Revenue
£289.2M

24% of maintenance

MR vs Tribunal Gap
29.6%

MR: 28.6% | Tribunal: 58.2%

Contradictions Detected

HIGH SEVERITY
24.0% of child maintenance (£289.2M annually) goes to government fees instead of children
📜 Legislation: Child Maintenance (Fees) Regulations 2014
Impact: £289.2M diverted from 334,700 families annually
CRITICAL
Tribunal overturns 58.2% vs MR 28.6% - 29.6% disparity indicates Mandatory Reconsideration process failure
📜 Legislation: Child Support Act 1991 s20 - Appeal rights
Impact: Parents forced to tribunal to get fair decisions (24,400 MR applications in Q3 2025)
HIGH SEVERITY
Collect and Pay represents 42.9% of cases - contradicts Direct Pay preference policy
📜 Policy: CMS states Direct Pay is the preferred arrangement
Reality: 42.9% on fee-generating Collect and Pay (increased 1.9% over 4 quarters)