The Peter McCormack Show #053: Noel Willcox – The Child Maintenance Scandal

Date: February 24, 2025
Host: Peter McCormack
Guest: Noel Willcox, political campaigner and activist

Overview

This episode dives deep into the ongoing scandal surrounding the UK Child Maintenance Service (CMS), exposing how decades of mismanagement, overreach, and alleged fraud have left thousands of parents destitute, in debt, and, in tragic cases, dead. Noel Willcox, an ex-military man and reform activist, details systemic problems plaguing the CMS, including inflated debts, draconian enforcement, government intransigence, and shocking excess mortality among "paying parents". The discussion also expands into wider government incompetence, the erosion of trust in institutions, and the emergence of Reform UK as a political force.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Origins and Evolution of the Child Maintenance Scandal

• The Child Support Agency (CSA) was established in the 1990s, originally under the Thatcher government, to force “deadbeat dads” to pay child support (16:15).
• The CSA's methods quickly attracted widespread complaints due to lack of accountability and an arsenal of enforcement powers: freezing bank accounts, seizing passports and driving licences, even imprisonment (00:00, 46:59).
• Because of high complaint volume, the CSA was shut down in 2012—superseded by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS)—but practices and issues persisted. “It was the same pig, just different lipstick.” (18:45)

2. Inflation of Debts and Fictitious Arrears

• In many cases, the CMS used “interim maintenance assessments,” inflating a parent’s income by up to 300% if financial records weren’t promptly provided (20:48, 35:40).
• Debts accrued through these (often fictitious) interim figures were not corrected even when real income was later evidenced.
• These errors compounded, moving over to new systems, ultimately creating billions in questionable debt—over £3.8 billion by some accounts (32:53, 73:14).
• “I’d love to get your view on this: we were inflating incomes by 300%. That is an admission of fraud.” – Noel Willcox (36:30)

3. Draconian and One-Sided Enforcement Powers

• The CMS can:
  • Enter bank accounts and freeze/deduct funds (00:00, 46:59)
  • Issue direct earnings orders to employers
  • Remove driving licences and passports
  • Send non-compliant parents to prison
• In court proceedings, judges are barred by law (Child Support Act 1991, s.33(4)) from questioning the service’s calculations—removing judicial oversight (75:25).
  • “That’s a breach of all natural justice, isn’t it?” – Peter McCormack (75:25)

4. Tragic Consequences: Excess Deaths and Suicides

• Freedom of Information requests revealed staggering mortality rates among CMS “paying parents.” From Sept 2017 – June 2020, 2,860 deaths occurred where 207 would be statistically expected—a 14x excess, and a 173x increase in suicide rates for the relevant age range (47:49).
  • Example: Gavin Briggs, who took his life after CMS refused to acknowledge his actual earnings, leaving him £150/month to live on (00:00, 44:42).
  • Example: Johnny O’Neill, whose employer deducted over 40% of his salary due to CMS errors, ultimately died by suicide (50:06).
• The CMS refuses to release data to link deaths with cause (54:02).

5. Lack of Accountability & Institutional Apathy

• Government and the National Audit Office (NAO) repeatedly flagged issues but, according to Willcox, little changed. Successive governments (Tory & Labour) did nothing—focus remained solely on enforcement (51:14).
• Parliamentary select committees discussed the scale but failed to pursue criminal responsibility.
  • “No one is held to account… It’s the only thing they know how to do: enforce.” – Noel Willcox (51:14)

6. Monetization of Family Breakdown & Broader State Failure

• The CMS appears incentivized to maximize collections, not family well-being. Powered by lucrative contracts with outsourcers such as Serco and Tata, enforcement is commercially profitable (106:06).
• Parallel drawn with the Post Office Horizon scandal, but with far larger numbers (2,800+ deaths versus 900 false prosecutions) — yet little public or media attention (52:03).
• “The post office scandal is just the warm-up for what's actually going on with the Child Maintenance Service scandal.” – Willcox (52:17)

7. Systemic Governmental Incompetence

• Both Peter and Noel connect CMS failures to wider dysfunction: rising taxes, declining services, endless fines and state surveillance—all feeding the rise of outsider parties like Reform UK (10:09, 84:03).
• “It feels like racketeering and extortion.” – McCormack (65:30)
• Repeated references to profit-driven contracts for the state and private companies, with citizens as "commodity units" in broader "monetization of children" (63:10).

8. Proposals for Reform and Justice

• Noel calls for a fully independent forensic investigation by external accountants with legal powers, not another government "inquiry". Paying parents with evidence of fictitious debts should have matters reviewed and, where misconduct or criminality is identified, prosecutions should follow (107:59).
  • “People need to go to prison.” – Willcox (108:34)
  • Both host and guest express skepticism it will happen without mass public pressure and media exposure.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Inflated Incomes:
  “We were inflating incomes by 300%. That is an admission of fraud.”
  — Noel Willcox [36:30]

• On Enforcement:
  “They can remove your driving license, your passport, and they can send you to prison… The paying parent has absolutely no way whatsoever of challenging those calculations.”
  — Noel Willcox [00:00]

• On Suicides:
  “In 33 months… we would expect 207 deaths. But there were 2,860 deaths. Total excess deaths 2,653. 14 times the normal mortality rate.”
  — Peter McCormack [47:49]

• On Fraud and Criminality:
  “This feels like racketeering and extortion.”
  — Peter McCormack [65:30]

• On Accountability:
  "No one is held to account. The only thing that they know how to do is enforce."
  — Noel Willcox [51:14]

• On Systemic State Failure:
  “We’ve come from the place where the government is elected by us to serve us, to essentially we’re almost in like a slavery time now…”
  — Peter McCormack [91:36]

• On Judicial Oversight:
  “...there’s an act of law that precludes justices from checking the calculations of the Child Maintenance service. What the—this is absolutely nuts.”
  — Peter McCormack [76:08]

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:00–00:43 — Noel opens with the powers of the CMS and the case of Gavin Briggs
• 16:15–19:35 — History of the CSA/CMS, origins of the scandal
• 20:48–24:11 — Mechanisms of inflating debts; interim maintenance assessments
• 35:40–36:49 — Admission of fraudulent practices in Parliament (video/footage referenced)
• 44:42–46:48 — Case study: Gavin Briggs' death
• 47:49–48:29 — Excess deaths and suicide statistics among CMS "paying parents"
• 50:06–51:05 — Case study: Johnny O’Neill's death, illegal deductions
• 52:03–53:22 — Post Office scandal comparison
• 75:25–76:50 — Legal mechanisms barring courts from challenging CMS calculations
• 77:14–78:17 — CMS now able to issue their own liability orders, bypassing the courts
• 84:03–94:46 — Noel’s personal experience with family courts, children’s welfare in state hands
• 106:06–107:41 — Outsourcing of enforcement (Serco, Tata), profit motives, what needs to happen next
• 107:59–108:54 — Willcox's recommendations: independent review, prosecutions
• 109:08–109:29 — Closing thoughts: What’s at stake with Reform UK and unveiling state rot

Takeaways

• The CMS/CSA story is a vast, underreported scandal: Billions in fictitious debt, thousands of ruined or ended lives, and scant political or media attention.
• State power is unchecked and unaccountable: The CMS operates without meaningful judicial, parliamentary, or public oversight.
• Problems are spread across government: The show connects state failure at CMS to parking fines, border security, and the Post Office scandal, indicating a systemic rot.
• Change requires public awareness and external accountability: Both host and guest agree that only exposure (through independent investigation and media) and a profound shift in governance can stop the cycle.

For Further Information

• CMS Watch: www.cmswatch.org (data collection, support, campaign material)
• YouTube: Search "Noel Willcox" for more interviews, in-depth discussions

“Honestly, I commend you for championing this—because it doesn’t sound like anyone else is.”
— Peter McCormack [98:23]

If you or someone you know is affected by the issues discussed, consider reaching out to CMS Watch for support or sharing your story.