Dozens of parents in Sedgemoor failed to pay child support during the last lockdown, figures show.

Charity Gingerbread, which supports single parents, said if those nationally dependent and living in poverty received the payment due, three in five would be “lifted out of the poverty trap.”

While separated parents can negotiate child support arrangements, many use the government’s child support service to calculate how much one parent should pay the other to raise their child.

Parents can be forced to use the CMS’s Collect and Pay service if they cannot agree on an amount or if someone has failed to keep payments.

Data from the Department of Labor and Pensions shows that 82 parents in Sedgemoor did not pay child support through the Collect and Pay service between January and March.

This means that 27% of the 304 single parents who use this service did not pay any maintenance during the three-month period.

The numbers also show that 17 parents only paid up to 30% of their ex-partner’s debts, while 27 parents paid between 30 and 60% of the debt.

In the UK, 42,000 parents paid no child support in the three months ended March – 28% of those who used Collect and Pay.

The CMS is designed to withdraw money directly from a person’s earnings or bank account when they are trying to avoid payments and take them to court if necessary.

However, between December 2020 and the end of March, the total arrears owed to children through Collect and Pay increased by £ 12.5 million.

Victoria Benson, executive director of Gingerbread, said the enforcement of the CMS was ineffective.

“The CMS enables non-paying parents to build huge arrears as 42,000 parents are not paying any child support they owe under Collect and Pay.

“Not only does this mean that single parents and their children are forced to live without, pushing many into poverty and debt, but it also enables economic abuse and control to continue in abusive relationships.”

The paying parent also has to pay a 20% fee to use Collect and Pay, while the other sees 4% deducted from what they receive.

Ms. Benson said these charges penalize the affected children.

“Children are neglected by the deduction of these fees and it just cannot be right for a government agency to do it,” she added.

However, the DWP said the fees should encourage both parents to work together.

A spokesman said: “The CMS puts children first, with their work securing £ 249million for UK children in the first quarter of 2021 as they use all of their powers to secure money from parents who are not living up to their responsibilities.

“The latest statistics show that a record number of parents are now paying over 90% of their debts.”

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, more and more parents are receiving benefits and are therefore automatically paying child support from them.

DWP statisticians said this has had an impact on the compliance rate since April 2020 and will likely continue to do so for some time.