The government has estimated that up to 50,000 more children may now be eligible for maintenance.
This announcement has come as the process of closing all existing Child Support Agency (CSA) begins.
An advertising campaign has also begun this week to inform people about the new system and encourage them to take action.
The CSA has stopped taking cases, as a result of the reforms to the child maintenance system, which, encourages parents to make their own arrangements for maintenance or use the newly established Child Maintenance Service.
The next phase of the reforms involves the CSA closing close to 800,000 cases.
In order to carry out this task, the Department of Work and Pensions will be writing to around 150,000 parents, detailing when their case will be closed and providing advice of what to do next. After parents have received their letter, they are urged to consider their plans for child maintenance after their case closure date.
Steve Webb MP, Child Maintenance Minister said:
“We’re reforming the child maintenance system because we want to get more maintenance to more children. This process provides parents with an opportunity to re-consider their child maintenance arrangements and our estimates show that as many as 50,000 children could benefit. I would urge anyone who receives a letter from the CSA about their case closing to look carefully at the options, as they may be surprised at the support available to them.”
An advertising campaign has been launched in newspapers, on the radio and across the internet to raise awareness of the changes and why parents will begin to receive these letters.
