§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much of the maintenance claimed as new maintenance by the Child Support Agency would have been due under pre-CSA agreements. [40315]
§ Mr. Andrew MitchellThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 2 November 1995:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about child maintenance.
Between launch in April 1993, and August 1995, as a direct result of Child Support assessments, the Agency has collected or arranged maintenance totalling £300m. It is not possible to say how much of this maintenance would have been due under pre-CSA agreements.
§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much of the Child Support Agency's outstanding debt is attributable to type A interim assessments. [40318]
§ Mr. MitchellThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 2 November 1995:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about how much of the Child Support Agency's outstanding debt is attributable to Category A interim maintenance assessments (IMAs).
Of a total outstanding debt of £700m at the end of August 1995, it is estimated that £456m was the result of IMAs.
It is not possible to further break down the £456m debt by category of IMA, but the vast majority of this debt can be attributed to category A IMAs. This is because the other types of IMAs (Category B, C and D) are used in circumstances where the absent parent is most likely to be cooperating with the Agency.
Since 18 April 1995, IMAs have been converted to full maintenance assessments (FMAs) from the effective date of the assessment, as soon as the absent parent provides sufficient information for this to be done. FMAs are generally much lower than IMAs and it follows that much of the IMA debt is provisional.
§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a breakdown of the child532W maintenance assessments issued to absent parents who have previously paid no maintenance including nil and minimum assessments. [40319]
§ Mr. MitchellThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 2 November 1995:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security requesting a breakdown of child maintenance assessments. This information is available for parents with care receiving Income Support.
Whilst it is not possible to provide a breakdown relating to absent parents, an estimated figure for parents with care is available and is set out in the table attached. This is produced based on five percent samples of Income Support and Child Support Agency cases, taken in February 1993 and August 1995 respectively.
Most of the cases included in these samples will be Income Support taken on in the first year of the Agency, when it was estimated that around 50 per cent of those cases taken on were not already receiving maintenance. This proportion has increased to an estimated 77 per cent. since April 1994. We would expect the percentage assessed who were not previously receiving maintenance (38.95%) to increase in future samples as Income Support data for 1994 and 1995 becomes available.
I hope this is helpful.
Maintenance assessed at August 1995 for parents with care who received no maintenance whilst on Income Support in February 1993 Number of cases (000s) As a percentage of the 333,500 cases assessed at August 1995 who were in receipt of Income Support in 1993 (a) £0 to £2.35 60 17.97 (b) £2.36 to £4.99 1 0.30 (c) £5 to £9.99 2 0.60 (d) £10 to £19.99 4 1.20 (e) £20 to £29.99 5 1.50 (f) £30 to £39.99 6 1.80 (g) £40 to £49.99 7 2.10 (h) £50 to £59.99 8 2.40 (i) £60 to £69.99 4 1.20 (j) £70 to £79.99 3 0.90 (k) £80 or more 29 8.69 Total 129 38.95 Note:
The table may include some instances where maintenance was paid to the DSS in respect of the claimant and/or dependant(s) at February 1993 and some cases where there was no entitlement to maintenance at February 1993.
Number of cases include interim and full maintenance assessments.