Gingerbread’s Misrepresentation of Child-Maintenance Arrears
Findings Summary:
Between 2016 and 2024, the charity Gingerbread
(No. 230750) repeatedly asserted in media articles, parliamentary briefings,
and reports that £3.8 – £4 billion in unpaid child-maintenance arrears was owed
to single parents.
This figure appeared in The Guardian, BBC News, The Mirror,
The Sun, Raeside Chisholm Solicitors, iNews, and Early Day
Motion 575 (19 October 2016) — all explicitly citing Gingerbread as the source.
However, official findings from the National
Audit Office (NAO), Work and Pensions Committee, and Public Accounts Committee
(2009 – 2024) confirmed that the overwhelming majority of this debt was fictitious,
inflated, or owed to the Secretary of State, not to parents with care.
The House of Commons Library Briefing Paper CBP-7776 (2021) recorded that, of
the £3.7 billion in legacy CSA arrears, only £0.1 – £0.6 billion was
realistically recoverable.
On 7 July 2020, the Charity Commission
for England and Wales upheld a public complaint (Ref. CRM: 0189535) that
Gingerbread had provided false or misleading information.
Senior Triage Officer Cathy Tymms confirmed the Commission had contacted the
charity to advise and remind the trustees of their duties, retaining the matter
on record for possible future regulatory action.
In 2025, after criticism of its
campaigning tactics, Gingerbread issued a public statement denying that it
endorses “divisive narratives such as ‘deadbeat dads’ or parental
alienation,” asserting that its work is grounded in “research, lived
experience, and fairness.”
This denial implicitly acknowledges the reputational and factual issues created
by the earlier £4 billion narrative.
Taken together, the evidence shows that
Gingerbread misled both Parliament and the public by promoting an inflated
arrears figure long after official audits proved it inaccurate.
The Charity Commission’s intervention demonstrates that these concerns were
legitimate and of regulatory significance.
References (with direct links)
- House
of Commons Library Briefing Paper CBP-7776 (2021) – Child Maintenance:
The Write-Off of Arrears on Child Support Agency Cases
https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7776/CBP-7776.pdf - National
Audit Office (2022) – Child Maintenance Summary
https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Child-Maintenance-Summary.pdf - Early
Day Motion 575 (19 Oct 2016) – Gingerbread Report on Child Maintenance
Service
https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/49828/gingerbread-report-on-child-maintenance-service - The
Guardian – Polly Toynbee (16 June 2016): “Why the silence on the scandal
of unpaid child maintenance?”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/16/silence-scandal-unpaid-child-maintenance - BBC
News (17 March 2017): “Unpaid child maintenance backlog in UK is £3.8 bn”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39293209 - The
Sun (28 March 2017): “Single parents owed £4 BILLION in child maintenance
due to official blunders”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3191235/single-parents-owed-4-billion-in-child-maintenance-due-to-official-blunders-and-3bn-of-it-is-unlikely-to-ever-be-recovered - The
Mirror (2019): “Mum owed £91,000 in child maintenance after ex stopped
paying”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/mum-owed-91000-child-maintenance-16252973 - iNews
(2019): “My ex is using the child maintenance system to continue to abuse
me”
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/child-maintenance-system-economic-abuse-410613 - AOL
News (15 June 2016): “Billions of pounds in child maintenance left unpaid”
https://www.aol.co.uk/2016/06/15/billions-of-pounds-in-child-maintenance-left-unpaid - Sunday
Post (2018): “Exclusive – Deadbeat Dads will not be chased for £3 billion
as Ministers write off CSA debts”
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/exclusive-runaway-parents-escape-child-support-payments-to-end-csa-fiascodeadbeat-dads-will-not-be-chased-for-3bn-as-ministers-write-off-bad-debts - The
Guardian (30 Jan 2009): “Conflicts over deadbeat dads”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jan/30/welfare-reform-bill - ResearchGate
(2020): “Barriers to Meeting Formal Child Support Obligations –
Non-Custodial Father Perspectives”
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338554399_Barriers_to_Meeting_Formal_Child_Support_Obligations_Noncustodial_Father_Perspectives - Charity
Commission for England and Wales (Letter – 7 July 2020)
“We have considered your concerns and,
as a result, contacted the charity to provide advice and to remind the trustees
of their duties.”
(Charity Commission correspondence (Ref CRM 0189535)
- Gingerbread
Public Statement (2025)
“We do not endorse or support divisive narratives such as ‘deadbeat dads’ or parental alienation.”
Watch Parliament TV footage exposing the £4 billion Lie - The Dishonesty of Gingerbread
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