HC Deb 08 July 1994 vol 246 cc337-9W
Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) to what extent problems in the Child Support Agency computer system and the EDS application have contributed to the backlog in the agency's work;

(2) to what extent the Child Support Agency office staff of clerical grade are finding difficulty in accessing, using and reacting to their computer system; and what assessment has been made of the effects of, and remedies for, the difficulties experienced by Child Support Agency staff;

(3) to what extent the Child Support Agency has been hampered in its national operation by (a) downtime of the Child Support Agency computer system central IBM mainframe computer and data links and (b) the overrun of night-time batch processing into office hours;

(4) how many incorrect assessments, mis-identifying of absent fathers and other maladministration have been made due to mistakes involving the Child Support Agency computer system;

(5) what proportion of those cases taken on by the Child Support Agency are being dealt with clerically without the aid of the Child Support Agency computer system; and how many of the assessments made by the agency have been made clerically;

(6) to what extent the Child Support Agency has been hampered in the regional centres by non-availability of the centre's own server computers.

Mr. Burt

The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to my hon. Friend.

Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mr. James Pawsey, dated 8 July 1994: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question regarding the Child Support Agency computer system. As with any large, new system, areas where improvements can be made have been identified. There is a continuous programme of improvements to the system including a planned quarterly enhancement to increase functionality. All relevant staff have been trained to use the system, and are generally doing so competently. Advice and support are available in the event of difficulty. You asked how many incorrect assessments had been made due to mistakes involving the computer system. Wrong assessments can occur because clients of the Agency provide incorrect information or because Agency staff make mistakes. Whilst this can cause incorrect data entry, the computer system is not known, with one exception, to have caused an incorrect assessment or misidentification of an absent parent. The exception occurred recently when, due to a programming fault, errors occurred on 789 assessments. These were identified within two days and remedial action is being taken. You were concerned about the effect of computer system downtime on Agency operations. Although non-availability of the system can have a disruptive effect, this cannot be measured precisely because the staff also perform non-system tasks which can be pursued during the course of any loss of service. You also asked what proportion of cases are being dealt with clerically; and how many of the assessments made by the Agency have been made clerically. Figures available for the year 1993–94 show that a total of 205,400 assessments were made by the Agency, of which 8,100 were assessed clerically. I hope that this reply is helpful.

Mr. Janner

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many maintenance assessments have been wrongly calculated by the Child Support Agency since its establishment.

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.

Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mr. Greville Janner, dated 7 July 1994: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about maintenance assessments which have been wrongly calculated. The Agency routinely monitors maintenance assessments to ensure that they are accurate with regard to law, process, procedure and money to be paid. A composite accuracy rate is not available as such, but stringent procedures are in place to minimise the risk of inaccurate assessments. Additionally, adjudication decisions and appeals in Agency centres are regularly examined by the Central Adjudication Services, an independent body who annually provide the Secretary of State with a report on the adjudication standard of the Agency.

Mr. Bayley

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what average amount of money received from absent parents the Child Support Agency holds at any time pending the forwarding of those payments to parents with care of children;

(2) how much interest the Child Support Agency has received to date from moneys received from absent parents prior to their payment over to parents with care of children.

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.

Letter from John T. Hughes to Mr. Hugh Bayley, dated 8 July 1994. In her absence the Chief Executive, Mrs. Hepplewhite, has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about client funds temporarily held by the Agency. I can confirm that the Agency does not receive interest from the bank in respect of client funds temporarily held by the Agency. Instead, the Agency's bank charges are abated. During April and May this year, the average amount of money received from absent parents and awaiting onward transmission to parents with care at any one time was approximately £620,000. This is based on the average volume of daily receipts, the proportion attributable to parents with care and the clearance times of the different payment methods. I hope that you find this reply helpful.