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Child Maintenance Scheme benfits 350,000 children

The Department for Work and Pensions has just published information on cases being processed on the 2012 statutory child maintenance scheme, delivered by the Child Maintenance Service covering the period of August 2013 to March 2017.

The total case intake volume was 12,900 in March 2017 which is an increase of 65.4% when compared to December 2016. This percentage increase is due to a seasonal effect around December each year where the number of applications drops, likely due to the Christmas period. When comparing March 2017 to March 2016, the total 2012 Scheme intake volume was up 1,700 cases or 15.2%.

From June 2014, the process of ending liability and closing all cases on the 1993/2003 CSA Schemes began. Recent increases in the total intake on CMS are partly driven by the case closure process.

In March 2017, the average number of children per case was 1.47. At the end of March 2017, the DWP believed that the number of children benefiting was between 346,800 and 368,300. The number of children benefiting has increased as more applications are made to the 2012 Scheme. In the quarter to March 2017, 357,500 children benefited, this is 13% higher than the December 2016 figure which was 316,100.