§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total number of cases dealt with by the Child Support Agency since it was established, within(a) the Newbury parliamentary constituency, (b) the area of Newbury district council and (c) the area of Berkshire county council. [28906]
§ 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 Ann Chant to Mr. David Rendel, dated 10 May 1996:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency cases.
Information in the form you have requested is not routinely kept, nor is it readily available.
Every case the Agency deals with involves at least two clients who may live in very different parts of the country. Our cases are allocated to an office on the basis of the location of the home of the parent with care. The Agency's work is dealt with by six Child Support Agency Centres (CSACs), each supported by Divisional and Field offices, dealing with particular geographical locations. Plymouth CSAC covers the Southwest and Central Southern regions. It has a Field office in Newbury, but the boundaries of this office do not correspond to any or all of the three areas you mention.
When the Agency was established, the Field offices dealt only with cases requiring local contact. The majority of work was dealt with by the CSAC. Since June 1995, Newbury Field office has dealt with pre maintenance assessment work in its area and has kept figures on the number of cases it has dealt with since then. Such figures, however, only relate to the area covered by the office and not the areas specified in your question.