Political opinion: Horsham MP warns ‘systemic failures’ driving economic abuse
Liberal Democrat MP for Horsham, John Milne, has called for urgent government action to tackle economic abuse, warning that systemic failures are leaving survivors and children at risk.
New research from Surviving Economic Abuse highlights the devastating impact of economic abuse, including its role in domestic homicide cases. Analysis of over 400 Domestic Homicide Reviews found that one person died every 19 days in cases involving economic abuse and intimate partner violence.
The findings also reveal repeated missed opportunities by public bodies, including the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), to identify and respond to economic abuse as a serious risk factor.
John Milne MP raised these concerns with the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls (23 March 2026), calling for strong safeguards against abuse to ensure individuals can access child maintenance safely. He also pressed the government on the need to strengthen income assessments and to remove the 2% Collect and Pay surcharge so survivors are not forced into contact with the abuser.
Following this, Mr Milne joined fellow Liberal Democrat MPs in writing to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to raise concerns about weak enforcement and to urgently bring forward long-promised reforms with a clear timetable for change.
Liberal Democrat MP for Horsham, John Milne, said: “Economic abuse is a deeply damaging form of domestic abuse that too often goes unrecognised. Systemic failures are leaving victims trapped in cycles of control long after separation and putting children at risk.
The government must act urgently to reform the system by strengthening enforcement and closing the loopholes that allow exploitation.”
Sam Smethers, CEO of Surviving Economic Abuse, said: “Economic abuse is not just a money problem – it is central to coercive control, and it kills. Abusers weaponise systems, like the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), to control survivors and harm their children long after they have fled. In one case featured in our report, an abuser murdered the victim when she tried to access the CMS for support her child was entitled to.
“Safe access to the CMS is a matter of life and death. Victim-survivors and their children cannot wait. We need long-awaited legislative reforms to be brought forward as soon as possible. If the Government is serious about halving violence against women and girls and tackling child poverty, it must close every opportunity for abusers to exploit the CMS.”