Staff at the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) have reported persistent computer system failures that have resulted in incorrect payment calculations, placing significant financial strain on some parents, according to a whistleblower. The caseworker, who has worked at the CMS for over a year and spoke on condition of anonymity, stated that up to one in five payment calculations may be inaccurate. These errors have contributed to escalating tensions and, in some instances, have been linked to severe distress among parents, including reports of suicidal thoughts.
The CMS, operated by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), is responsible for determining how much a parent should pay to support their children following separation, using income data and the number of children involved. Initial calculations are manually reviewed by caseworkers and undergo several checks, but issues reportedly arise during automated recalculations or annual reviews. The whistleblower described episodes where the system generated arrears figures significantly higher than justified, citing an example where a parent was inaccurately charged £600 in arrears despite only owing £100.
Regular IT upgrades, referred to internally as “Sprint” updates and occurring approximately every two months, have been identified by staff as a frequent source of disruption. These updates reportedly cause widespread system instability, miscalculations, incorrect correspondence sent to parents, and difficulties accessing accounts for both clients and staff. According to the whistleblower, these issues create a “crazy” working environment, contributing to heightened stress among caseworkers.
The whistleblower also raised concerns about discrepancies between income information held by the CMS and that recorded by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), indicating that the CMS system sometimes extracts erroneous data. Two parents who alleged overcharging provided recorded conversations with CMS employees acknowledging these data extraction errors.
The financial impact of these glitches has been severe for some. Relatives of two fathers who died by suicide have attributed their distress, in part, to CMS demands for what were described as inflated or “fictitious” payments.
Union representatives have expressed concern that outdated and inflexible IT systems further complicate an already difficult role. Martin Cavanagh of the Public and Commercial Services Union highlighted the challenges faced by CMS staff attempting to manage flawed software.
The DWP acknowledged that the CMS undergoes regular maintenance and upgrades and stated that the CMS system is designed to base calculations on the previous full tax year’s income as reported by HMRC. The department emphasized that parents can submit additional information to amend payment amounts. Quoting National Audit Office data, the DWP maintained that calculations are 99% accurate based on the information received.
A spokesperson for the department said the CMS employs more than 4,000 staff across eight locations, managing over 810,000 child maintenance arrangements. The department stated that it takes shortcomings seriously and continues to modernize its operations to improve service delivery and speed. It denied the existence of systemic IT faults affecting calculations and highlighted that parents have the right to challenge decisions.
Regarding mental health, the DWP stressed that safeguarding is a priority and said staff receive training to identify and respond to mental health risks.
Support organizations urge individuals experiencing distress to contact services such as Samaritans.