Child Support (Hansard, 13 March 1995)

§ Mr. Dewar
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many absent parents are paying the minimum weekly contribution towards child maintenance; and what proportion of assessments this figure represents.

§ Mr. Burt
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Miss Ann Chant, chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Donald Dewar, dated 9 March 1995: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State or Social Security about the number of minimum weekly contributions to child maintenance and the proportion of the number of child maintenance assessments made by the Child Support Agency this represents. Information available following a sampling exercise of Child Support Agency cases conducted in October 1994, shows that 48,800 cases, 16 per cent. of assessments completed at that time, were assessed for the absent parent to pay the minimum weekly contribution. Information on the number of such cases where maintenance was actually being paid is not available.

§ Mr. Dewar
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in what proportion of Child Support Agency cases where an assessment has been made no child maintenance has been paid; and what action he has taken.

§ Mr. Burt
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Miss Ann Chant, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Donald Dewar, dated 9 March 1995: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the proportion of cases where no maintenance has been paid following an assessment by the Child Support Agency. As at the 3 February 1995 the Agency was dealing with a total of 179,000 accounts that had been set up for the collection of maintenance through the Agency collection service, following the completion of a maintenance assessment. In 42 per cent. of those cases no maintenance had yet been paid. Of course, a number of these accounts have only recently been set up, but of the remainder, interim maintenance assessments (IMA) have been made against the majority of the absent parents who have not met their obligation to pay child maintenance. Enforcement action will be considered against absent parents who still do not pay after the issue of an IMA. The Agency continually reviews its accounting procedures to ensure that where a child maintenance assessment has been made and collection requested, that maintenance is collected. It has introduced a number of management action and implemented specially designed work packages to secure the collection of the maximum amount of maintenance.

§ Mr. Dewar
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the average reduction in the amount of child support bills caused by the changes announced in February 1994 and January 1995.

§ Mr. Burt
It was estimated that, for those absent parents who were affected by the February 1994 changes, the average reduction in maintenance would be £5 to £10 per week. For those who will be affected by the changes to the formula proposed in the recent White Paper, "Improving Child Support", the average reduction in maintenance is expected to be some £8. Any reductions due to the proposed departure system will be in addition to this.
454W
Figures for average reductions do not indicate the range of reductions, which can vary significantly depending on the circumstances of individual cases.