The primary source of financial support for students comes from the student support system through various loans and grants designed for their needs. Students are unable to claim Universal Credit if they are studying full-time, unless they meet specific exceptions such as being responsible for a child. Where eligible students make a claim for Universal Credit, income available to meet their everyday living costs such as a basic student maintenance loan are taken into account, avoiding duplication of support.

The Department is committed to supporting people to retrain, develop new skills and move into jobs in sectors experiencing workforce shortages. Jobcentre Plus works with employers to provide work experience and training placements, including Sector Based Work Academy Programme, helping people gain the experience and skills to fill these vacancies. In addition, we are offering up to 300,000 additional opportunities with priority referrals for young people as part of the Youth Guarantee.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1^st July 2026 to Question UIN 12993.

Where a parent’s gross income exceeds £156,000 a year, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) makes a maximum maintenance calculation. Any further consideration of child maintenance is a matter for the courts, which have their own mechanisms for examining the finances of those involved in proceedings where relevant.

Where a paying parent’s income is not fully reflected in a statutory maintenance calculation, the CMS can take account of certain forms of diverted and unearned income through the variation process where income has not been fully reflected in a maintenance calculation. Where information is disputed or appears not to reflect a parent's true circumstances, caseworkers can access specialist support, including the Financial Investigation Unit.

The Government continues to work closely with HMRC to improve the quality and timeliness of income data and strengthen the identification of complex income arrangements. Assessments and processes are kept under review to help ensure that child maintenance liabilities accurately reflect parents' financial circumstances and that all parents contribute appropriately towards their children.

The CMS can provide information to the courts where requested through the proper legal process, including information used in child maintenance calculations and, where relevant, findings from CMS investigations

The CMS remains committed to ensuring that parents meet their financial responsibilities to their children.

The £156,000 annual gross income limit reflects the £3,000 gross weekly income threshold introduced with the 2012 child maintenance scheme. The scheme was designed to provide a standard formula for assessing child maintenance in most cases. Where a paying parent’s income exceeds this threshold, receiving parents may apply to the courts for a top-up order. Higher-income cases can involve more complex financial arrangements and, as intended when the scheme was introduced, the courts remain responsible for determining any additional maintenance above the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) calculation limit.

The Government keeps all aspects of the child maintenance system under consideration, but there are currently no plans to uprate this threshold.

A paying parent with gross weekly income of £3,000 or above would be liable for child maintenance of approximately £294 per week for one qualifying child, £392 per week for two qualifying children and £482 per week for three or more qualifying children under the statutory formula, before any adjustments for shared care or other factors.

Where a paying parent changes jobs, The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) uses real-time information from HMRC where available, to quickly identify new employment and adjust maintenance calculations accordingly.

People who are self-employed are required to keep accurate records of their business income and expenses for tax purposes. HMRC can charge penalties for inaccurate reporting where it results in tax being unpaid.

Where the information available from HMRC does not give rise to a liability which accurately reflects what a customer believes a paying parent should be paying, the customer can seek a Variation. Variations allow the CMS to look at some circumstances which are not covered by the basic maintenance calculation. A variation can be requested on grounds of diversion of income. This is when the paying parent may be able to control the amount of income they receive. This includes diverting income to another person or for another purpose (including excessive pension contributions).

When income used to calculate the child maintenance assessment is disputed outside of the normal business as usual process, this can be referred for investigation by the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU), whose function is ensuring financial correctness of Child Maintenance assessments. Cases involving complex income can also be investigated by the FIU. This specialist team can request information from financial institutions to check the accuracy of information the CMS is given.

Where the FIU establishes that potential offences contrary to the Child Support Act 1991 have been committed, the case is submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service to make a decision regarding the viability of prosecution/conviction. The CMS is committed to prosecuting where it is in the public interest to do so, whilst balancing the welfare of all children involved in a maintenance assessment.

The FIU and HMRC are developing a new partnership to explore better intelligence sharing and joint working.

We are currently reviewing FIU work with a view to improving performance.

Furthermore, subject to securing primary legislation, we plan to remove Direct Pay and move to a single CMS service. This will enable the CMS to monitor all payments, respond more quickly to non-compliance, and better support victims and survivors of domestic abuse by removing the need for contact between parents and reducing the burden of reporting missed payments.

Where a paying parent changes jobs, The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) uses real-time information from HMRC where available, to quickly identify new employment and adjust maintenance calculations accordingly.

People who are self-employed are required to keep accurate records of their business income and expenses for tax purposes. HMRC can charge penalties for inaccurate reporting where it results in tax being unpaid.

Where the information available from HMRC does not give rise to a liability which accurately reflects what a customer believes a paying parent should be paying, the customer can seek a Variation. Variations allow the CMS to look at some circumstances which are not covered by the basic maintenance calculation. A variation can be requested on grounds of diversion of income. This is when the paying parent may be able to control the amount of income they receive. This includes diverting income to another person or for another purpose (including excessive pension contributions).

When income used to calculate the child maintenance assessment is disputed outside of the normal business as usual process, this can be referred for investigation by the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU), whose function is ensuring financial correctness of Child Maintenance assessments. Cases involving complex income can also be investigated by the FIU. This specialist team can request information from financial institutions to check the accuracy of information the CMS is given.

Where the FIU establishes that potential offences contrary to the Child Support Act 1991 have been committed, the case is submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service to make a decision regarding the viability of prosecution/conviction. The CMS is committed to prosecuting where it is in the public interest to do so, whilst balancing the welfare of all children involved in a maintenance assessment.

The FIU and HMRC are developing a new partnership to explore better intelligence sharing and joint working.

We are currently reviewing FIU work with a view to improving performance.

Furthermore, subject to securing primary legislation, we plan to remove Direct Pay and move to a single CMS service. This will enable the CMS to monitor all payments, respond more quickly to non-compliance, and better support victims and survivors of domestic abuse by removing the need for contact between parents and reducing the burden of reporting missed payments.

Where a paying parent changes jobs, The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) uses real-time information from HMRC where available, to quickly identify new employment and adjust maintenance calculations accordingly.

People who are self-employed are required to keep accurate records of their business income and expenses for tax purposes. HMRC can charge penalties for inaccurate reporting where it results in tax being unpaid.

Where the information available from HMRC does not give rise to a liability which accurately reflects what a customer believes a paying parent should be paying, the customer can seek a Variation. Variations allow the CMS to look at some circumstances which are not covered by the basic maintenance calculation. A variation can be requested on grounds of diversion of income. This is when the paying parent may be able to control the amount of income they receive. This includes diverting income to another person or for another purpose (including excessive pension contributions).

When income used to calculate the child maintenance assessment is disputed outside of the normal business as usual process, this can be referred for investigation by the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU), whose function is ensuring financial correctness of Child Maintenance assessments. Cases involving complex income can also be investigated by the FIU. This specialist team can request information from financial institutions to check the accuracy of information the CMS is given.

Where the FIU establishes that potential offences contrary to the Child Support Act 1991 have been committed, the case is submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service to make a decision regarding the viability of prosecution/conviction. The CMS is committed to prosecuting where it is in the public interest to do so, whilst balancing the welfare of all children involved in a maintenance assessment.

The FIU and HMRC are developing a new partnership to explore better intelligence sharing and joint working.

We are currently reviewing FIU work with a view to improving performance.

Furthermore, subject to securing primary legislation, we plan to remove Direct Pay and move to a single CMS service. This will enable the CMS to monitor all payments, respond more quickly to non-compliance, and better support victims and survivors of domestic abuse by removing the need for contact between parents and reducing the burden of reporting missed payments.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has no plans to introduce income-based pricing for utilities or merit goods for specific sectors.

Merit goods like essential healthcare, state schooling, and primary education remain free at the point of use for everyone, independent of income. For supplementary merit goods that require flat fees—such as NHS prescriptions and dental checkups—the government maintains fixed prices rather than income-scaled pricing.

Lump sum compensation from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme is not treated as income, rather as capital which Universal Credit disregards for 12 months and may be disregarded indefinitely when it is held in a trust or used to purchase an annuity. The Government remains committed to the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant and to ensuring that those who have served are not disadvantaged as a result of their service. That commitment is reflected in Universal Credit.

Lump sum compensation from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme is not treated as income, rather as capital which Universal Credit disregards for 12 months and may be disregarded indefinitely when it is held in a trust or used to purchase an annuity. The Government remains committed to the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant and to ensuring that those who have served are not disadvantaged as a result of their service. That commitment is reflected in Universal Credit.

At Autumn Budget 2025, the government announced more timely payments for Income Tax Self Assessment and committed to developing the policy with stakeholders through a public consultation. The consultation is now live on www.gov.uk and will close on 4 August 2026.

The government recognises that Self Assessment taxpayers may have seasonal or irregular income patterns and is carefully considering as part of the consultation process how to support such customers. The government welcomes responses from those who may be affected, which will inform the final policy design.

I refer the Hon Member to the press release cited in his sixteen questions, and to the Darwin Initiative website, which provides further information on the project. This includes its costs and outcomes, and explains why the UK has been funding projects such as this under successive governments since 1993.

The Government recognises that childcare is a significant expense for many families, and we remain committed to ensuring that parents can access affordable, high‑quality provision that supports them to work and provide for their children.

At Autumn Budget 2025, the Government announced that the Department for Education will lead a review of childcare provision. The aim of this review is to simplify the system for both providers and families, making it easier to access support and enhancing the overall impact of the Government’s childcare offer.

The Child Maintenance Service has told one of my constituents that because the father of her children is claiming benefits, he can pay her only £6.73 a week, even though the CMS is aware that he has an additional hidden income of £97,000. Sadly, that is not an isolated case. Will the Minister set out, for my constituent, what the Government are doing to strengthen enforcement so that such cases can be treated as criminal matters?

Together with disabled people, we are co-producing a review of PIP to ensure that it is fair and fit for the future. The review’s terms of reference reflect the view of successive Governments that PIP should be a non-means-tested cash benefit for people both in and out of work, because anybody can incur additional costs as a result of long-term ill health or disability.

The increased PIP costs are expected to add an extra £5 billion to the welfare budget this year. As the TaxPayers’ Alliance has highlighted, the number of households earning over £100,000 and getting PIP has doubled to 200,000 claimants. Will the Minister make an assessment of the potential merits of means-testing PIP to ensure targeted support?

My hon. Friend has made an important point. The Child Maintenance Service is committed to ensuring that separated parents support their children financially, and to ensuring that the assessment reflects the parents’ true income. I am not familiar with the specifics of the case that my hon. Friend has raised, but my general view is that while enforcement powers are adequate, case complexity is often the challenge when it comes to proving where money is owed. If my hon. Friend wants to write to me about that specific case, I would be happy to look into it further on his behalf.

Currently, where a paying parent's income is at least 25% different than the figure obtained from HM Revenue and Customs or no figure is available, the Child Maintenance Service will consider whether the liability should be based on the parent's current income. A change will not be considered unless it breaches the 25% tolerance.

However, the Department has conducted a review of the child maintenance calculation. This review focussed on ensuring the calculation strikes the right balance between both parents to encourage willing and able compliance, with the aim of securing more money for children.

Following the review, we plan to take forward a set of changes to reflect a renewed commitment to ensuring that the child maintenance system delivers for the families who rely on it most. We plan to reduce the income tolerance from 25% to 15%. Each customer’s calculation is reviewed annually, and currently it can be amended outside of that annual review when a paying parent’s income changes by at least 25%. The proposed changes will mean that changes in income are captured quicker and assessments remain fair for both parents.