Kirith Entwistle

Topical Questions

T3. Short waiting lists for cataract surgery are a success story, thanks in part to the partnership between the NHS and providers such as SpaMedica, headquartered in my constituency. However, ICB indicative activity plans could see waiting lists increase from weeks to over four months. How will cataract patients be protected while we maintain those all-important short waiting lists?

Victims and Courts Bill

It is a pleasure to speak in today’s debate. I first spoke on this Bill on Second Reading, when I said that victims in Bolton had waited far too long for a system that truly works for them. This Bill delivers critical reforms to protect victims and rebuild confidence in our justice system, from powers to tackle non-attendance at hearings to measures strengthening the rights of victims. It will help victims to get the justice they deserve, and I am pleased that this Labour Government are getting

Topical Questions

I am currently supporting a constituent who, after leaving her abuser, was locked out of her home, left with thousands of pounds of arrears that had been run up in her name, and denied access to her own bank account. Does the Minister agree that post-separation abuse is too often overlooked and still not recognised widely enough? What steps is she taking to better protect victims?

Topical Questions

Although I am proud of the steps that our Government have taken to advance online safety, we are merely playing catch-up. What more are the Government doing to ensure that we keep pace with the reality facing women and girls and how will they address emerging technologies such as AI smart glasses, which are operating without scrutiny?

Topical Questions

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

Child Maintenance Service

As I mentioned earlier, there is a big issue with how the CMS communicates with both parents.

Child Maintenance Service

I beg to move, That this House has considered the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I declare an interest, as I am currently involved in a tribunal with the Department for Work and Pensions concerning my own child maintenance service case, which I will not refer to today. I am bringing this motion before the House to highlight the urgent need for reform to the child maintenance service, particularly how it deals with post

Child Maintenance Service

My hon. Friend raises a particularly important point. I will come on to the collect and pay service and how that is also broken. The result of how the CMS deals with shared care is a system that accepts unverified claims, but refuses genuine evidence. It is confusing, adversarial and often deeply unfair. The structure of the CMS also creates the wrong incentives. When maintenance calculations change depending on the number of nights a child spends with each parent, disputes over care arrangement

Child Maintenance Service

Absolutely; it is just another vehicle being used by perpetrators to continue that post-separation abuse. At its heart, this debate is about the lives of children growing up in separated families across the country. The child maintenance service was created with the intention of supporting those children, but when the system allows post-separation abuse to continue, when it leaves survivors feeling unheard and unsafe, and when children are drawn into that harm, it is clear that reform is urgentl

Child Maintenance Service

Absolutely. My hon. Friend raises yet another issue with the CMS and highlights just how badly the system is set up. Mothers struggle on alone, absorbing financial pressure themselves rather than risking opening the door to further abuse. That should deeply concern this House. We must remember what is at stake. Child maintenance exists for one reason: to support the quality of life and wellbeing of children. Yet the experiences that we have all described suggest that children are being drawn int

Child Maintenance Service

Absolutely. The system is fundamentally broken. Children must be at the heart of any decision made about them. It is important to recognise that many parents, particularly single mothers, who have experienced abuse do not use the CMS at all. They avoid it because engaging with the system may mean renewed contact with the very person they are trying to escape. They do not see the CMS as protection, but merely as another channel through which a perpetrator can exert control.

Child Maintenance Service

That is such a powerful point, and I am really sorry on behalf of my hon. Friend’s constituent. Sadly, that is not an isolated case. Some say that they are asked to pay far more than they can afford, while others say that the support they receive does not come close to covering the cost of raising their children. When they try to seek clarification, they hit another problem with the CMS: inconsistency. Different advisers give different answers, and staff are working from guidance rather than cle

Child Maintenance Service

I completely agree. These issues are not theoretical; I see them repeatedly in cases raised by my own constituents in Bolton. One constituent, who I will call Emily, left an abusive relationship and is still dealing with the consequences through the CMS. She describes intimidation and harassment from the father of her children, alongside unreliable maintenance payments. Money arrives late, arrives short or does not arrive at all. Her case remains on direct pay, meaning that the system still reli

Child Maintenance Service

The hon. Member is absolutely right. I will come on to that issue shortly. Surely we must ask whether this is really the standard we are willing to accept. Another fundamental weakness lies in how the CMS deals with shared care, in that it absolutely fails to do so. In theory, maintenance calculations are meant to reflect the number of nights a child spends with each parent; in reality, the system largely relies on what parents report themselves. Rather than establishing the reality of shared ca

Child Maintenance Service

Absolutely. Even more troubling is that 45% of the parents in that research said that the CMS’s involvement had actually led to an increase in abusive behaviour. Those figures should stop us in our tracks. For survivors, the very experience of using the CMS can be deeply distressing. From the cold tone of emails and letters to the aggressive and harsh text messages, right through to the opaque way payments are calculated, the process can be deeply triggering for those who have experienced abuse.

Child Maintenance Service

That is exactly why this debate matters. I will come on to some of the points my hon. Friend raised. When a public service not only allows, but actively facilitates, the continuation of abuse and fails to recognise the realities of coercive control, it is not just flawed; it is unjust. The national evidence is deeply concerning. Research by Gingerbread, a charity supporting single-parent families, found that 77% of primary carers using the CMS reported experiencing domestic abuse from the other