1. Executive Summary
Main conclusion: The older CSA systems had major officially documented failures. CMS2012 replaced the legacy CSA schemes for the 2012 statutory scheme, and public evidence confirms DWP ownership, DWP Digital involvement, several named suppliers/components, CMS statistics, official audit scrutiny, and a published CMS predictive analytics tool.
- CSA legacy schemes: public accounts and NAO/Parliament reports evidence historic problems with CSCS/CS2, EDS contracts, backlogs and manual workarounds.
- CMS2012: public records evidence CMS2012 as the current statutory scheme platform referenced in procurement and algorithmic transparency records.
- Ownership: DWP is the public department; DWP Digital is the digital/technology organisation; CMS operations sit within DWP child maintenance service structures evidenced by GOV.UK and Parliament.
- Supplier evidence: EDS, TCS, Oracle, Adobe, Capgemini, BT and HP/HPE appear in public records; exact detailed responsibilities should be limited to what each source confirms.
- Unverified items: internal team names, full architecture, exact private support staff, complete subcontractor chain and some supplier values are listed separately at the bottom as evidence gaps.
2. Evidence Rules
Included in the main hub
Only claims with public evidence from GOV.UK, NAO, Parliament, ICO, Ombudsman, DWP Digital, public procurement records, or credible public reports clearly marked by evidence status.
Moved to bottom
Claims that may be connected but are not fully proven yet, including detailed internal structure, exact technical architecture, unsupported supplier roles and possible contractor links.
Not published as fact
Anything that names private staff, asserts a complete internal operating model, or claims security-sensitive details without public proof.
3. Verified Timeline of Key Events
| Date | Event | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Child Support Agency legacy 1993 scheme and original child support computer arrangements. | GOV.UK legacy schemes account |
| 2003 | CSA 2003 reforms and CS2 implementation were subject to NAO scrutiny. | NAO CSA reform report |
| 2003–2012 | CS2 and CSA operations had documented defects, stuck cases, backlogs and clerical/manual workarounds. | Work & Pensions Committee 2009–10 |
| 2004–2007 | Parliament and PAC criticised CSA reform, IT failures, poor value for money and lack of transparency. | Work & Pensions 2004 | PAC 2006–07 |
| 2012 | CMS2012 launched for the new statutory child maintenance scheme. | 2012 scheme client funds account |
| 2014 | NAO reported early CMS2012 progress but also delays, supplier management issues, governance issues and migration risks. | NAO CMS2012 early progress |
| 2020 | DWP Digital blog evidenced product/business analysis work on online Child Maintenance Service journeys. | DWP Digital CMS article |
| 2022 | NAO reported CMS had reduced government involvement and costs but had not achieved all intended outcomes. | NAO Child Maintenance 2022 |
| 2022 | ICO reprimanded DWP after inappropriate disclosure of personal data in Child Maintenance Appeals. | ICO DWP reprimand |
| 2024 | Public reporting says DWP agreed a new TCS contract for Digital Children Service / child maintenance systems. Treat as public reporting unless original award notice is added. | UKAuthority TCS contract report |
| 2025 | Algorithmic Transparency Record documents CMS predictive analytics using CMS2012 data and the Child Maintenance Data Platform. | GOV.UK Algorithmic Transparency Record |
4. Verified Systems Map
Legacy 1993 scheme
└─ CSCS / Child Support Computer System
Evidence status: supported by NAO / Parliament / legacy account sources.
Legacy 2003 scheme
└─ CS2
Evidence status: supported by NAO / Parliament / PAC sources.
Publicly evidenced issues: defects, stuck cases, backlogs, manual workarounds.
2012 statutory scheme
└─ CMS2012
Evidence status: supported by GOV.UK accounts, procurement records and ATR.
Publicly evidenced scope: case/service platform, payment compliance analytics,
and supplier-supported application development / live support.
5. People and Governance
Only publicly evidenced senior people and roles are listed. Private engineers, caseworkers, incident managers and supplier staff are excluded.
| Name / role | Public role | Connection to CMS / DWP IT | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secretary of State for Work and Pensions | Ministerial accountability | Political accountability for DWP and child maintenance policy. | DWP governance |
| DWP Permanent Secretary | Accounting Officer | Overall departmental accountability for DWP resources and governance. | DWP governance |
| Helen Wylie | Director General, Digital & Transformation; Chief Digital and Information Officer | Senior digital/technology leader for DWP Digital and the digital estate. | GOV.UK profile |
| Sinéad Krzyzyk | DWP Digital product manager, public blog evidence | Publicly linked to elements of the online Child Maintenance Service. | DWP Digital article |
| Lesley Thompson | DWP Digital senior business analyst, public blog evidence | Publicly linked to online Child Maintenance Service work. | DWP Digital author page |
| Simon Hunter | Director of the Child Maintenance Service | Senior CMS business/service leader appearing in Parliament evidence. | Parliament 25 June 2025 evidence |
| Duncan Gilchrist | Deputy Director of Child Maintenance Policy | CMS policy leadership appearing in Parliament evidence. | Parliament CMS inquiry |
| Chris Smith | Deputy Director of Child Maintenance Operations / Delivery Assurance | CMS operations/delivery assurance role appearing in Parliament evidence. | Parliament 25 June 2025 evidence |
6. Suppliers and Contractors with Public Evidence
| Supplier / contractor | Evidence-based role | Evidence status | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| EDS / Electronic Data Systems | Main supplier associated with CSA CSCS/CS2 era; CS2 had major documented failures. | Verified by NAO/PAC | NAO | PAC |
| Tata Consultancy Services | Publicly evidenced in relation to CMS2012 / Digital Children Service reporting, BaNCS, and the CMS predictive analytics tool. | Verified / partly by official ATR | ATR | UKAuthority |
| Oracle | Public evidence links Oracle/Siebel and Oracle integration to CMS2012 architecture evidence. | Verified by public written evidence | CMS architecture written evidence |
| Adobe | Public evidence links Adobe correspondence/document tooling to CMS2012 architecture evidence. | Verified by public written evidence | CMS architecture written evidence |
| Capgemini | Named by NAO as one of four main suppliers for the 2012 scheme. | Verified by NAO | NAO CMS2012 report |
| BT | Named by NAO as one of four main suppliers for the 2012 scheme. | Verified by NAO | NAO CMS2012 report |
| HP / Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services | Named by NAO as one of four main suppliers for the 2012 scheme. | Verified by NAO | NAO CMS2012 report |
7. Contract Values and Money Figures with Evidence
| Amount | Who / what | Meaning | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| £456m | EDS / CS2 | Public Accounts Committee reported contract changes increased system price to £456m. | PAC 2006–07 |
| £381m | EDS / CS2 | 2005 reorganisation reduced overall CS2 contract cost to £381m. | PAC 2006–07 |
| £53m | EDS penalty/reduction | Reduction included a £53m penalty for failure to meet contract terms and poor delivery. | PAC 2006–07 |
| £86m | CSCS support cost | Estimated cost since 2002 of using CSCS for longer than expected. | NAO memorandum |
| £42.6m–£49.6m | TCS / Digital Children Service | Reported 2024 four-year application development, maintenance and support contract. Keep marked as press/secondary until original award notice is attached. | UKAuthority |
8. Officially Evidenced Problems and Causes
| Problem area | What the evidence supports | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| CSA/CS2 IT failures | Serious IT defects, stuck cases, backlog and need for clerical/manual workarounds. | NAO CSA reform report | PAC |
| Legacy data quality and migration risk | Inaccurate/incomplete debt records and migration risks affected later systems. | NAO CMS2012 early progress |
| Programme governance | Changing requirements, supplier-management issues, extra testing/support costs and governance weaknesses. | NAO CMS2012 report |
| Data protection | ICO reprimand for inappropriate disclosure of personal data in Child Maintenance Appeals. | ICO reprimand |
| Customer service and enforcement | CMS reduced costs and government involvement, but NAO found it had not achieved all intended outcomes. | NAO Child Maintenance 2022 |
| Operational complaint failings | Ombudsman evidence of inaccurate/wrong information and avoidable payments in a CMS complaint. | PHSO case |
9. Verified CMS2012 Architecture Evidence
This section only includes components where public evidence was provided. Detailed internal design, hosting, database layout, security controls and support team names are excluded.
Oracle Siebel CRM
Public architecture evidence links Oracle Siebel CRM to CMS2012 case-management functions.
TCS BaNCS
Public evidence links BaNCS to payments/ledger-type CMS2012 functions.
Oracle integration / middleware
Public architecture evidence links Oracle integration technologies to CMS2012.
Adobe correspondence
Public architecture evidence links Adobe tools to CMS2012 correspondence/document outputs.
DWP / DWP Digital governance
DWP is the department; DWP Digital public sources evidence digital delivery and CMS online service involvement.
Architecture evidence: Parliamentary CMS architecture evidence.
10. Data and AI
Verified: GOV.UK published an Algorithmic Transparency Record for a CMS predictive analytics compliance tool.
CMS2012 data
Child Maintenance Data Platform
Predictive analytics model
Caseworker prioritisation support
Payment compliance action
11. Searchable Evidence Library
| Category | Source | What it supports | Link |
|---|
12. Possible Links / No Full Evidence Yet
Use this as a research queue, not as proven fact. These items may be connected to CMS/CSA IT, but the evidence in this hub does not fully prove the claim yet.
| Possible link / claim | Why it might be relevant | Why there is no full evidence yet | Best next evidence to find |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full internal CMS2012 live-service organisation chart | DWP Digital and suppliers must operate the service, but public sources only show high-level governance. | No public organogram found naming CMS-specific CTO, incident, change, database, network or IAM teams. | FOI request for high-level operating model and non-sensitive team names. |
| One company owning the whole CMS2012 platform | Several suppliers are linked to CMS2012 components. | Public evidence shows multiple suppliers/components; no source proves one supplier owns the whole platform. | Contract schedules or DWP FOI confirming prime/system integrator responsibilities. |
| Exact Oracle database architecture | Oracle/Siebel and Oracle integration are evidenced. | The sources do not publish database schemas, hosting, environments, resilience or admin arrangements. | Non-sensitive architecture FOI; procurement technical schedules if publishable. |
| Java, APIs, networks, monitoring, backup and disaster recovery stack | These are likely areas in a large service. | No public source in this evidence set proves the specific CMS2012 technologies or tools. | FOI for technology register at non-sensitive product level. |
| Experian or other data-service contractors | Credit/reference/data matching services may be relevant to child maintenance operations. | No specific CMS contract/evidence in this hub proves a detailed role. | Contracts Finder, Find a Tender, DWP spending data, FOI for data-service suppliers. |
| Fujitsu / ICL link to CSCS or CS2 | Wider UK legacy IT often involved these companies. | No source here proves CSCS/CS2 were built or run by ICL/Fujitsu. Do not connect Horizon/Fujitsu to CMS without evidence. | Historical contract records, NAO archive, DWP FOI, supplier case studies. |
| VME infrastructure link to CSA systems | DWP Digital published a VME-R programme for wider legacy infrastructure. | The VME-R source is wider DWP context; it does not prove CSCS/CS2 specifically ran on VME. | FOI asking whether CSCS or CS2 used VME and during what periods. |
| Every wrong letter/address caused by the same system defect | ICO/PHSO evidence shows data/correspondence failures occurred. | Official evidence supports incidents/failings but not a single universal technical cause. | Incident reports, root-cause reviews, ICO/PHSO case files, FOI. |
| Full 2024 TCS contract schedules and final award value | UKAuthority reports a 2024 TCS contract for Digital Children Service. | The hub currently has secondary reporting; original award notice/contract documents should be attached. | Find a Tender, Contracts Finder, DWP commercial pipeline, FOI for redacted contract. |
| Oracle Cloud Infrastructure migration for CMS | Procurement aggregators indicate a PIP/CMS/CIS OCI migration. | Aggregator evidence is not enough for final publication without original award/contract notice. | Original Find a Tender/Contracts Finder notice or DWP contract award notice. |
| DPIAs, equality assessments and bias assessments for CMS analytics | AI/analytics tool is publicly evidenced. | The ATR may not publish every underlying assessment document. | FOI request for titles, dates and publishable versions of DPIA, EIA, bias and model assurance records. |
| CMS digital governance meeting minutes | Governance boards likely oversee changes and risk. | No meeting minutes were found in this evidence set. | FOI for agendas/minutes for CMS digital transformation boards by date range. |
Independent public-interest information hub explaining how the Child Maintenance Service, DWP Digital, CMS2012 systems, digital governance, live service support, suppliers, automation, complaints and accountability routes connect together.
Important: This page is for transparency, education and signposting only.
Right First Time UK is independent and is not part of DWP, GOV.UK or the Child Maintenance Service.
Always check official sources before making decisions about child maintenance, complaints,
appeals, payments or legal rights.
1. Main Public Service
Child Maintenance Service
- Apply for help arranging child maintenance
- Sign in to your CMS account
- Report missed payments
- Report changes of circumstances
- Check payment arrangements
- Make complaints or appeals
- Report fraud or incorrect information
- Check when child maintenance stops
2. Apply / Get Help Arranging Maintenance
- Private arrangements
- Family-based arrangements
- Applying to CMS
- Separated parent support
- Maintenance options and next steps
3. CMS Online Account
- Sign in as a parent or guardian
- View your case
- Report changes
- Report missed payments
- Report extra payments
- View payment plans
- Report fraud
4. Payments
- Direct Pay
- Collect and Pay
- Annual review
- Collection fees
- Missed payments
- Enforcement action
5. Changes to Report
- Address changes
- Bank detail changes
- Income changes
- Shared care changes
- Missed payments
- Voluntary extra payments
- Changes affecting who the main carer is
6. Official Guidance Library
- CMS 2012 scheme factsheets
- Leaflets
- How maintenance is worked out
- Variations
- Appeals and complaints
- Employer guidance
7. Parent Organisation
Department for Work and Pensions
- DWP is responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy
- DWP calculates child maintenance under CMS rules
- DWP can collect payments through CMS where needed
- DWP procures digital systems, suppliers and live-service support
8. Digital Organisation
DWP Digital
- Digital delivery for DWP services
- Online public services
- Technology platforms
- Live service operations
- Digital With Purpose agenda
9. Senior Digital Leadership
Helen Wylie
- Director General, Digital and Transformation, DWP
- Chief Digital and Information Officer
- CDIO role from November 2024
- Director General role from May 2025
- Senior responsibility for digital, data and transformation
10. DWP Governance
- DWP Executive Team
- Departmental Board
- Digital and Transformation leadership
- Transformation Advisory Committee
- Scrutiny of digital enablement
- Scrutiny of automation and data use
11. CMS Digital Product Evidence
- DWP Digital blog evidence of online CMS work
- Private beta for Apply for help arranging Child Maintenance
- Product management and business analysis roles
- Digital service development during lockdown
12. Suppliers and Technology Support
- Application development
- Live service support
- CMS2012 platform support
- Regular releases
- Transformation delivery
- Stable live service performance
13. Contracts and Procurement
- Search DWP supplier contracts
- Check contract values
- Check start and end dates
- Check procurement frameworks
- Check live service support contracts
14. AI / Automation Area
- CMS predictive analytics compliance tool
- Operational caseworker support
- Risk of financial non-compliance
- Prioritising proactive action
- Keeping money flowing to children
15. Complaints and Escalation
- Complain to CMS first
- Ask for written explanations
- Keep evidence and screenshots
- Escalate to Independent Case Examiner where eligible
- MP referral to Parliamentary Ombudsman may apply
16. Data Rights and SARs
- Request CMS data
- Ask for personal information held by DWP
- Ask about automated processing
- Request records, notes and system information
- Escalate data concerns to the ICO
Operational Map
UK Government
↓
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
↓
DWP Permanent Secretary / Accounting Officer
↓
DWP Executive Team / Departmental Board
↓
Director General, Digital & Transformation
Helen Wylie
↓
Chief Digital & Information Officer
Helen Wylie
↓
DWP Digital
↓
┌───────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────┐
│ Chief Technology / Platforms │ Live Service Operations │ Cyber Security / Assurance │
│ Architecture, infrastructure │ monitoring, incidents, change │ identity, access, compliance │
└───────────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────┘
↓
CMS Product / Delivery Teams
Product managers, business analysts, service designers, engineers
↓
Child Maintenance Group / CMS Operations
Caseworkers, calculations, payments, enforcement, customer contact
↓
Parents, carers and children using CMS
Service Function Map
User journey
↓
GOV.UK CMS service
↓
Apply / sign in / report changes / payments / complaints
↓
CMS2012 case-management platform
↓
Caseworker operations
↓
Payment calculation, Direct Pay, Collect and Pay, enforcement
↓
Outcome: money flowing for child maintenance
AI / Automation Map
CMS data
↓
Predictive analytics tool
↓
Operational prioritisation
↓
Caseworker action
↓
Reduced payment breakdown risk
CMS2012 Accountability Register
| Area | What it Covers | Who Appears Responsible | What to Check | Useful Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public CMS Service | Applications, sign in, payments, changes, complaints and fraud reporting | DWP / Child Maintenance Service | Official GOV.UK guidance, account records, letters, notices and decisions | GOV.UK CMS |
| CMS2012 Platform | Case management, calculations, payment workflows and operational case handling | DWP / DWP Digital / CMS Operations | Calculation records, system notes, caseworker notes, payment plan history | Guidance Library |
| DWP Digital | Digital service development, live service support, online CMS journey and technical delivery | DWP Digital | DWP Digital blog posts, service updates, procurement documents, commercial pipeline | DWP Digital CMS |
| Leadership and Governance | Digital transformation, automation, data use and service governance | DWP senior leadership and governance boards | DWP governance page, annual reports, board structure, transformation scrutiny | DWP Governance |
| Suppliers | Application development, live support, regular releases and transformation work | DWP commercial teams and external suppliers where contracted | Contracts Finder, Find a Tender, commercial pipeline, contract values and suppliers | Contracts Finder |
| Automation / AI | Predictive analytics compliance tool for identifying risk of financial non-compliance | DWP / CMS operational teams / digital and data governance | Algorithmic Transparency Record, privacy information, fairness, human oversight and data use | Algorithmic Record |
| Complaints | Service failures, delay, errors, missed payments, poor communication and maladministration | CMS first, then escalation routes where eligible | Complaint reference numbers, letters, call notes, payment evidence and decision records | CMS Complaints |
| Data Rights | Personal data, case records, system notes, call records and automated processing questions | DWP data controller functions and ICO oversight | Subject Access Request responses, missing records, exemptions and ICO escalation | ICO SAR Guidance |
Questions This Hub Helps People Ask
- Who owns the CMS2012 system?
- Who operates the online CMS service?
- Who is responsible for digital governance?
- Which suppliers support CMS technology and live service operations?
- What system notes, case records or data can a parent request?
- Was an error caused by caseworker action, policy rules, payment data, system workflow or supplier-supported live service issues?
- Has automation or predictive analytics affected how a case was prioritised?
- What complaint, SAR, FOI or escalation route is available?