§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average length of time for the Child Support Agency to(a) acknowledge a letter from a member of the public, (b) answer any questions raised and reply in writing, and what is the current amount of correspondence awaiting (c) an acknowledgement and (d) a full reply; and what is the overall backlog of correspondence at the Child Support Agency.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mr. Kevin McNamara, dated 17 February 1994:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the time taken by the Child Support Agency to reply to letters from members of the public.The Agency's Charter contains a stated aim to respond to correspondence within 10 working days of receipt. Although general correspondence is not routinely acknowledged, the Agency does aim to acknowledge written complaints within two days of receipt. Because the Agency is a new organisation providing a completely new service, it will not be possible to state with confidence before the end of the first year the average length of time taken to reply to correspondence.As the first year of the Agency's operations has stimulated a great deal of correspondence, I am afraid that the targets for answering correspondence are not currently being met. The necessary steps are being taken to ensure that letters are answered as promptly as possible. The Agency remains committed, however, to publish its performance against Charter standards in April, and thereafter monthly.I hope that you find this reply useful.
§ Mrs. GoldingTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the total salary costs for the Child Support Agency for the current year broken down by grade.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member.
1023WLetter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mrs. Llin Golding, dated 18 February 1994:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking for details about the salary costs of staff in the Child Support Agency.The forecast total salary costs for the Agency for the current year are £74 million.Staffing costs by grade are not currently available.I hope you find this information useful.
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how long on average it takes the Child Support Agency to carry out the whole maintenance application process, broken down by area CSAC.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of the Child Support Agency is the responsibility of its chief executive, Ros Hepplewhite. She will write to the hon. Member shortly.
Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mr. Donald Dewar, dated 18 February 1994:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions about the time taken to complete the maintenance application process by each regional centre of the Child Support Agency.For the period from the 5 April to 31 December 1993, information is available on the percentage of cases cleared by individual Agency Centres within given time bands; under 40 days, between 40 and 100 days, and over 100 days. This data is tabulated at Annex A.I hope you find this reply useful.
CSAC <40 Days >40 Days but <100 Days >100 Days Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Belfast 52.11 8.20 39.70 Birkenhead 41.20 15.80 43.00 Dudley 45.02 12.96 42.02 Falkirk 46.30 11.86 41.83 Hastings 45.64 11.77 42.59 Plymouth 42.82 11.85 45.32 Total 45.51 12.14 42.34 The times are measured from the receipt of the maintenance application form by the Agency, to the day after the assessment is completed.
All data is from the Child Support Computer System, and is provisional.
§ Mrs. GoldingTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many of the Child Support Agency's staff are on performance-related pay.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mrs. Llin Golding, dated 18 February 1994:
I have been asked to reply to your Question to the Secretary of State about the number of staff in the Child Support Agency who receive performance related pay.The Agency operates its performance related pay scheme within the terms of the new national pay arrangements agreed by the Treasury and the Civil Service Trade Unions. These new arrangements have created a stronger link between pay and performance by replacing automatic annual increments with performance related progression. The level of any individual's performance related progression is governed by the Agency's personal review system.In this system, each individual is set a number of challenging work and personal objectives, tailored to meet each person's 1024W experience and ability. Performance related pay is awarded in recognition of the level of individual performance achieved over the previous twelve months.The Agency now employs 4,937 staff all of whom are eligible for consideration for an award of performance related pay based upon the agreed arrangements which are available for inspection in the Library.I hope you will find this reply helpful.