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CMS Reforms: What Is Actually Changing, and When
The government wants to abolish Direct Pay and charge every CMS parent a fee. None of it is law yet. This page tracks what has been proposed, what stage it has reached, and what it would mean for you. We update it whenever the position changes.
Last reviewed:
Current status: proposed, not law
As of September 2026 there is no bill before Parliament and no regulations have been laid. The government's stated target is 2027-28. Until legislation passes, Direct Pay continues, the current fees stay as they are, and nothing about your case changes. Treat anyone telling you the new fees already apply as wrong.
What the government has proposed
On 23 June 2025, in its response to consultation, the government set out three connected changes:
- Every case moves to a collection service. The CMS would collect and pass on all maintenance, instead of most parents transferring money between themselves.
- Direct Pay is abolished. The free option where the CMS sets the amount and parents handle the payments would end.
- New fees for everyone. Each parent would pay 2% of the maintenance amount, and paying parents who do not pay on time would pay a further 20% on top. Today, parents on Direct Pay pay nothing, and Collect and Pay charges 20% to the paying parent and 4% to the receiving parent.
What it would mean for each parent
If you pay maintenance
A Direct Pay case that costs you nothing today would cost 2% of the maintenance amount, with the CMS sitting in the middle of every payment. Pay late and a 20% surcharge applies. If your case already runs smoothly, the reform adds cost without adding anything for you. The stated aim is catching the cases where money is not arriving, but the fee lands on compliant parents too.
If you receive maintenance
You would give up 2% of every payment, but the CMS would see every transaction, so missed payments become visible immediately rather than when you report them. For parents whose Direct Pay arrangement exists on paper but not in practice, and for anyone whose ex-partner uses payments as a point of contact after abuse, collection by default is the entire point of the reform.
How we got here
2012
The current scheme begins
The 2012 scheme replaces the CSA's rules. The rate bands and percentages it introduced are still the ones in force today, unchanged since.
26 February 2024
The £20 application fee is abolished
SI 2024/87 removes the application fee, making it free to open a CMS case. Anything you read that still mentions the £20 fee is out of date.
19 March 2025
DWP officials face the Lords
Senior officials, including CMS director Simon Hunter, give evidence to the House of Lords Public Services Committee. The committee later describes CMS enforcement as random, abusive and unregulated.
23 June 2025
The government announces its reform plan
In its response to consultation, the government proposes moving every case onto a collection service, abolishing Direct Pay, and introducing new fees: 2% for each parent, with 20% on top for paying parents who do not pay on time. Target: 2027-28.
17 August 2026
BBC Panorama investigates
Parents under Pressure puts the service's failings on primetime television, with case studies from both paying and receiving parents and an apology from the CMS director.
13 February 2026
The 2023 Act's main power is confirmed dormant
A Freedom of Information response (FOI2026/07789) confirms the CMS still does not use administrative liability orders. The Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023 received royal assent in July 2023, but the secondary legislation needed to switch its powers on has yet to be laid, with the DWP working with the courts service and the Scottish Government on regulations.
Today
Still a proposal
No bill has been introduced and no regulations have been laid, either for the fee reforms or for the 2023 Act's administrative liability orders. Until Parliament legislates, nothing about your case changes.
What has not changed
The calculation itself is untouched by the proposals. The rate bands and percentages have been the same since 2012: the basic rate of 12%, 16% and 19%, the £3,000 a week cap, the shared care reductions. Applying to the CMS remains free. If you want to know what you would pay or receive under the rules as they stand, use the calculator.
For the background to the reform pressure, read our coverage of the BBC Panorama investigation and the House of Lords hearing that preceded it, and the numbers behind both in our CMS statistics guide.