Child Support Agency (Hansard, 8 July 1996)

§ Mr. Lidington
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security for what reasons an officer acting on his behalf altered the method of payment of maintenance in CSA case reference 1014339731; and for what reasons no explanation for this decision has been given to the absent parent. [35432]

§ Mr. Andrew Mitchell
The 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 Mr. David Lidington, dated 4 July 1996: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency case reference 1014339731. In this particular case, when the parent with care and the absent parent submitted their application forms to the Agency, they both stated that their preferred method for the payment of maintenance was by direct payments from the absent parent to the parent with care. However, the parent with care later requested that payments be made through the Child Support Agency collection service, as the absent parent had failed to make regular payments to her. 60W The absent parent was advised of this request. He subsequently telephoned Plymouth Child Support Agency Centre and it was agreed that a standing order mandate would be set up for the payment of maintenance. This has been arranged. I hope this is helpful.

§ Mr. Lidington
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the Child Support Agency will send its submissions to the special payments branch about case reference 1002347955. [35135]

§ Mr. Mitchell
The 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 Mr. David Lidington, dated 4 July 1996: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency case reference 1002347955. This case is currently being progressed by the Dudley Child Support Agency Centre compensation referral team. It has been necessary to clarify aspects of the parent with care's request for compensation. For this reason, a letter was issued to her on 18 June 1996 requesting more information. To date no reply has been received. Once the necessary information has been received, a submission will be made to the Special Payments Branch as a matter or priority.

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total cost of the Child Support Agency advertising campaign for the Greater Manchester area; for what reasons the campaign is located in the Greater Manchester area; what are the aims of the campaign; and what organisation is co-ordinating the campaign [35375]

§ Mr. Mitchell
The full cost of the campaign will be £180,000. The Greater Manchester area was chosen because the diversity of its population and the size and range of available media make it representative of the country as a whole.
This is a test campaign with three main aims: to address some of the common public misconceptions about child support maintenance; to improve compliance with child support legislation; and to raise the levels of public awareness about the way the child support maintenance system operates. The campaign has been co-ordinated by the Central Office of Information for the Department of Social Security.