Under the Child Maintenance Reform Programme the Northern Ireland Child Maintenance Service introduced a new child maintenance system in December 2012. The Reform Programme also introduced a number of changes to the way child maintenance would be delivered, including the introduction of charging in June 2014.
Article 130 of The Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 specified a requirement that a review of the effect of fees and charges was carried out 30 months after their introduction.
The Review was informed by independent research and analysis of the administrative databases for the child maintenance statutory schemes. In line with the legislative requirement, the research for the 30 Month Review was completed by the end of December 2016. Findings from the independent customer surveys undertaken in 2016 to inform the Review are available.
The 30 Month Review has completed. CMS has published a full report outlining the key findings and recommendations from the Review, together with a high level summary report.
NI 30 Month Review