§ 20. Mr. ConnartyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the first three months operation of the Child Support Agency; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BurtThe Child Support Agency is a new business operating under new legislation.
In its first three months of operation the agency issued 177,000 maintenance application forms to parents with care of children, sent 38,500 maintenance inquiry forms to absent parents and made 4,000 maintenance assessments.
We are closely monitoring its performance and I am satisfied that the start it has made in introducing these new arrangements will ensure that parents meet their responsibilities for child maintenance whenever they can afford to do so.