What MPs Can Do —
And Must Do
If your constituent has come to you with a CMS enforcement problem, this page tells you exactly what to do, which questions to ask, which agencies to refer to, and how to escalate. The evidence base for this investigation is fully published — all sourced to primary documents.
The Child Maintenance Service has been issuing its own enforcement documents — CMS's own FOI response (25 June 2026, FOI2026/50177) confirms these are CMS administrative templates, not court orders. Under s.51 Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, a valid summons must be issued by a justice of the peace. CMS does not do this. The Government Legal Defence confirmed this in High Court proceedings (Z2500859 para 8). Yet enforcement continues — wages seized, homes charged, parents imprisoned.
On 8 July 2026, approximately 300 liability orders were granted at Weston-super-Mare Magistrates' Court in a single sitting lasting just over one hour. No individual judicial consideration. No examination of whether any calculation was correct — s.33(4) CSA 1991 bars courts from checking. No Article 6 compliance for any individual case.
The calculation platform generating every debt figure has been confirmed by the US 5th Circuit (November 2025) as built on wilfully stolen intellectual property. DWP awarded TCS a new contract one month after the federal damages ruling. No debarment assessment has been published.
Your Step-by-Step
Response Guide
Ask to See the Documents
Request copies of: the CMS summons; the liability order; any enforcement notices. Check: does the summons have a court seal? Does it have a court case reference number? Is the signatory named and individually identified? Was it issued from a court address or from Plymouth/Wolverhampton? If the answers are no — the documents may be void under s.51 MCA 1980.
Write to Baroness Sherlock on Your Constituent's Behalf
Write to the Minister of State for DWP (Baroness Sherlock) asking: (a) whether the summons served on your constituent was issued by a justice of the peace or by CMS; (b) whether DWP considers CMEL7298 to be a court order in light of FOI2026/50177; (c) the legal basis for continued enforcement during live High Court proceedings (AC-2025-LON-001412). A ministerial response on the record is valuable evidence.
Submit Written Parliamentary Questions
Use the pre-drafted questions below. These are targeted at the specific points where the government has made contradictory or incomplete statements. Written answers are on the parliamentary record and force ministerial engagement with the specific issues.
Refer to the Work and Pensions Select Committee
Write to the Chair (Debbie Abrahams MP) referring your constituent's case and this investigation for committee scrutiny. The Lords Public Services Committee has already concluded the CMS system is "not fit for purpose" (June 2026). The Commons W&P Committee must now examine the lawfulness of enforcement.
Refer to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Where your constituent has exhausted CMS's own complaints process, you can refer to the PHSO. The PHSO can find maladministration and recommend redress. Given the systemic nature of the issues, a referral of even one case can build the broader record.
Engage with the CMS Files Investigation
Contact thebigchildmaintenancescandal@gmail.com with your constituent's case details. With your constituent's consent, the case can be documented in the investigation and included in submissions to the SFO (NCA Referral), HMCTS, and parliamentary bodies. Your constituent may also be a candidate for future group litigation.
Parliamentary Questions
That Get Answers
These questions are targeted at specific admissions, contradictions, and failures documented in primary sources. Each forces a ministerial answer on the record. Submit as written questions to the Minister of State for DWP or the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
To ask the Minister of State for Work and Pensions, whether the CMEL7298 document used by the Child Maintenance Service in enforcement proceedings constitutes a court order within the meaning of s.51 Magistrates' Courts Act 1980; and what steps she has taken following DWP's FOI response FOI2026/50177 of 25 June 2026, which confirmed that CMEL7298 is "the only document that constitutes the order."
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many liability order sittings at which more than 100 applications were listed simultaneously have taken place at magistrates' courts in England and Wales in the last 12 months; what was the average length of such sittings; and how Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights is satisfied in proceedings where multiple cases are heard without individual judicial consideration.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether sections 32M and 32N of the Child Support Act 1991 (as amended by the Child Support (Enforcement) Act 2023) have been commenced by commencement order; and what the legal basis is for the Child Maintenance Service issuing administrative liability orders prior to the commencement of those provisions.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether CMS2012 is currently operating the version of TCS BaNCS that the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals barred TCS from using pursuant to its permanent injunction in Computer Sciences Corporation v Tata Consultancy Services (Case No.24-10749, 21 November 2025); and what debarment or exclusion assessment was conducted following that judgment.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what independent research has been commissioned into excess mortality among paying parents subject to CMS enforcement since the publication of FOI2025/78063 disclosing 9,258 paying parent deaths between 2020 and 2024; and whether the department intends to commission such research.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on what parliamentary authority the independent audit of the Child Maintenance Client Funds Account was removed for the financial year 2025–26; and what consultation took place with the Comptroller and Auditor General before that decision was taken.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether DWP will publish the legal advice on the compatibility of CMS enforcement with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, withheld under legal professional privilege in response to FOI IR2026/14071; and what assessment the department has made of whether withholding that advice from Parliament is consistent with the government's obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998.
To ask the Minister of State for Work and Pensions, when she first disclosed to the Permanent Secretary her previous roles as Chief Executive of the National Council for One Parent Families (1997–2003), Member of the Council of Economic Advisers (2000–2003), and Senior Independent Director of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (2008–2010), in connection with her appointment as minister responsible for child maintenance.
Agencies MPs Should
Refer to — and Why
Work & Pensions Select Committee
Refer the investigation formally to the Chair (Debbie Abrahams MP). Request: oral evidence from Baroness Sherlock on mortality data, FOI2026/50177, and her undisclosed interests. The Lords PSC has already found CMS "not fit for purpose."
debbie.abrahams.mp@parliament.ukSerious Fraud Office
Support existing NCA referral. MPs can write directly to the SFO Director supporting the referral and drawing attention to the scale of the enforcement regime. Parliamentary support for an SFO investigation carries significant weight.
sfo.gov.uk/report-fraudNational Audit Office
Request an urgent NAO investigation into: (1) the removal of CMS Client Funds Account audit for 2025–26; (2) the arrears paradox; (3) whether DWP holds a valid licence for TCS BaNCS given the 5th Circuit ruling.
nao.org.uk/report/contact-usIndependent Adviser on Ministerial Standards
Refer the non-disclosure of Baroness Sherlock's interests on appointment. Five public declarations as a parliamentarian — none disclosed on becoming minister. Ministerial Code paras 1.6(f) and 3.14 are directly engaged.
gov.uk/government/organisations/independent-adviser-on-ministers-interestsCharity Commission
Formal demand for statutory inquiry into Gingerbread (Charity No.230750) under s.46 Charities Act 2011. MPs can write directly to the Charity Commission supporting the inquiry demand and citing the documented DWP funding loop.
gov.uk/complain-about-charityJoint Committee on Human Rights
Refer the structural Article 6 incompatibility of the CMS enforcement regime — bulk listings, Secretary of State financial interest, s.33(4) calculation bar. Request a JCHR inquiry into whether DWP's withheld legal advice (FOI IR2026/14071) is consistent with HRA 1998 obligations.
parliament.uk/jchrRequest a Full
Briefing Pack
We can provide MPs and parliamentary researchers with a tailored briefing document, a full evidence bundle, constituency-specific constituent support guidance, and support for parliamentary questions.
thebigchildmaintenancescandal@gmail.com
Subject: MP BRIEFING REQUEST — [YOUR NAME / CONSTITUENCY]