Section 15 of the Child Support Act 1991 allows for an inspector to enter any premises which is not used solely as a dwelling, and if any person obstructs or refuses to furnish information, he is liable to a summary fine up to scale 3 (currently £1,000).

Section 55 of the Welfare Reform Act 2009 allows for a non-resident parent to be tried by a magistrates’ court for a failure to notify a change of address or any other change of circumstances.

In April 2017 I made a Freedom of Information request to the Department for Work and Pensions, asking “How many non resident parents have been fined under subsection 9a or 9b of Section 15 of the Child Support Act 1991?”

The DWP replied: “Section 15 of the Child Support Act 1991 is an information gathering power that grants powers to authorised inspectors to gather information about non-resident parents, therefore the prosecution powers would not be used against the non-resident parent. Between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017 there have been no prosecutions for obstructing an inspector under this act, all inspectors notices have been complied with.”

In June 2017 I made a Freedom of Information request asking how many individuals had been prosecuted by the Child Maintenance Group for providing false information, or failing to provide information requested, or failing to notify a change of address, or failing to notify any other change of circumstances such as a change of employer.

The DWP replied: “The Child Maintenance Group has adapted their approach to prosecution, focussing on cases where prosecution is in the public interest, and would have a beneficial outcome for the child. Data on the number of prosecutions made by the Child Maintenance Service is available from April 2016. Since this date there has been less than 5 cases (the threshold for statistical rounding) where a prosecution has been made on the grounds you have requested.”

The DWP’s rules on statistical rounding are likely to mean that there were no prosecutions on these grounds.

On 2 November 2017, in response to a Freedom of Information request, the Department for Work and Pensions told me:

“The only fines that can be imposed relating to child maintenance are as a result of criminal prosecution for failure to provide information or providing false information for the purposes of calculating the child maintenance liability. These fines are imposed by a court, not the Child Maintenance Service. Information about these fines is not recorded by the Department for management information purposes, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.”