HC Deb 05 November 1993 vol 231 cc581-5W
Mr. Kirkwood

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many maintenance application forms were issued to(a) persons with care under section 4, (b) parents with care under section 6, (c) absent parents and (d) child applicants (Scotland) in the first six months of the Child Support Agency's operation;

(2) what the live caseload of the Child Support Agency currently stands at; and what it is expected to be at April in each year from 1994 to 1998;

(3) how many assessments were completed after an application from a (a) person with care not in receipt of income support, family credit or disability working allowance, (b) parent with care in receipt of income support, (c) parent with care in receipt of family credit, (d) parent with care in receipt of disability working allowance and (e) non-parent with care in receipt of income support, family credit or disability working allowance in the first six months of the Child Support Agency's operation; and what were the targets for the same period;

(4) how many maintenance application forms were issued to (a) persons with care not in receipt of income support, family credit or disability working allowance, (b) parents with care in receipt of income support, (c) parents with care in receipt of family credit, (d) parents with care in receipt of disability working allowance and (e) non-parents with care in receipt of income support, family credit or disability working allowance over the first six months of the Child Support Agency's operation;

(5) how many assessments were completed after an application by (a) persons with care under section 4, (b) parents with care under section 6, (c) absent parents and (d) child applicants (Scotland) in the first six months of the Child Support Agency's operation; and what were the targets for the same period.

Mr. Burt

The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from R. Hepplewhite to Mr. Archy Kirkwood, dated 5 November 1993: As Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking various questions about the Agency. You ask about the number of Maintenance Application Forms (MAFs) issued to parents with care, absent parents and also to child applicants in Scotland in the first six months and for future years. To 30 September 1993, 19,500 MAFs had been sent to parents with care who do not receive one of the prescribed benefits, 384,500 to parents with care receiving Income Support, and 123,000 to parents with care receiving Family Credit or Disability Working Allowance. I am sorry but the Agency does not collect separate figures for Scotland nor is information available on the number of absent parents who requested a MAF although the numbers are estimated to be very low.

The Agency has issued 527,000 MAFs in total in the first 6 months of operations and for each of the years 1994 to 1998 expect to issue numbers of MAFs as follows:

Year Number
1994 1,010,000
1995 860,000
1996 868,000
1997 696,000
1998 690,000

You also ask about the numbers of assessments completed. The Agency had completed 366,120 assessments to the 30 September.

I hope you find this information useful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.

Mr. Mills

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many fathers separated from their wives and not paying any maintenance have been traced and made to pay maintenance by the Child Support Agency;

(2) how many responsible fathers paying maintenance at present by court judgment have had their agreed maintenance increased significantly by the introduction of the Child Support Agency system;

(3) how many fathers separated from their wives with children within the child support system are paying maintenance.

Mr. Burt

The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from R. Hepplewhite to Mr. Iain Mills, dated 5 November 1993: As Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking various questions concerning the Agency's operations. You ask how many fathers are paying maintenance under the new child support system and, secondly how many of them were not paying maintenance previously and have been traced by the Child Support Agency. The answer to the first question is that the Agency has now assessed child maintenance in 36,610 cases. We estimate that in half of these cases the absent parent was not previously paying maintenance. Over the course of the year we estimate that around two thirds of cases taken on by the Agency will be ones where no maintenance was previously in payment. In answer to your second question about tracing absent parents. At 30 September, 326,700 Maintenance Application Forms (MAFs) had been returned and the Agency had already contacted over 166,000 of the absent parents involved. Where the MAF shows that an absent parent's whereabouts are not known, the Agency checks Departmental records to establish their current address. If this is not available the case is referred for specialist tracing action. The Agency has completed such specialist action in 7,700 of these cases, and has successfully traced the absent parent in 7,000 cases, 92 per cent. In September alone, over 2,500 absent parents were located by the Agency's specialist tracing sections. The average time taken in each case is not recorded. On your third question, about the level of maintenance, the Child Support Act provides for maintenance to be assessed by means of a standard formula that produces predictable and realistic amounts. However, as the Agency has only been operating since April this year it is too early to be able to sty what overall effect the Agency has had on the level of maintenance payments. It has always been made clear that the amount of maintenance worked out by the Agency under the formula may be higher than a previous court order in some cases. Average maintenance payments were £25 to £30 a week and under the formula the average is expected to be £45 to £50 a week. I hope you will find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.

Ms Corston

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in how many Child Support Agency cases the named alleged absent parent has disputed paternity; in how many of these cases the alleged absent parent has been interviewed; how many of these cases have been abandoned; in how many cases the Child Support Agency has initiated court proceedings on paternity; and how many cases are still awaiting Child Support Agency decision on whether to take court action.

Mr. Burt

The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from R. Hepplewhite to Ms Jean Corston, dated 4 November 1993: As Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking for information where there has been a dispute over paternity. At the end of September 1993, the Agency had identified just over 900 cases where paternity was an issue. Although the Agency does not collect figures on the number of absent parents interviewed, 161 of these cases have been resolved and 17 have been referred for court action. In around 700 cases, the matter is still under consideration. I hope you will find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.

Ms Corston

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many parents with care have been exempted from the requirement to co-operate with the Child Support Agency on the grounds of risk of harm or undue distress; and in how many cases a parent with care has given evidence to the Child Support Agency about a risk of harm or undue distress in each quarter of the Child Support Agency's operation;

(2) how many of the maintenance application forms returned to the Child Support Agency by persons with care provided a current address for the absent parent; in the remaining cases, where a full name was provided, what were the average times taken to trace the absent parent; and how many cases have been abandoned to date;

(3) how many reduced benefits directions have been issued for each quarter of the Child Support Agency's operation.

Mr. Burt

The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member shortly and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from R. Hepplewhite to Ms Jean Corston, dated 4 November 1993: As Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about revelant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about absent parents and the requirement to co-operate with the Agency in arranging maintenance, and also about tracing absent parents and reduced benefit directions where a parent with care has refused to co-operate. At 30 September 1993, the number of cases where the requirement to co-operate had been an issue was 6,600. In 4,900 of these, the Agency accepted that the parent with care had good cause not to co-operate in pursuing a maintenance claim. Of those cases in which "good cause" was not accepted, 22 have been referred to the Benefits Agency for the prescribed benefit reduction. You ask about Maintenance Application Forms (MAFs) and tracing absent parents. At 30 September, 326,700 MAFs had been returned and the Agency had already contacted over 166,000 of the absent parents involved. Where the MAF shows that an absent parent's whereabouts are not known, the Agency checks Departmental records to establish their current address. If this is not available the case is referred for specialist tracing action. The Agency has completed such specialist action in 7,700 of these cases, and has successfully traced the absent parent in 7,000 cases, 92 per cent. In September alone, over 2,500 absent parents were located by the Agency's specialist tracing sections. The average time taken in each case is not recorded. I hope you will find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.