§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proposals her Department has for measures to protect the welfare of lone parents in those cases where maintenance debt has been considered irrecoverable by the CSA. [21797]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe regular payment of child maintenance is a key part of our strategy for helping lone mothers move off income support and into work. However, there will inevitably be some cases where it proves impossible for the Child Support Agency to collect the arrears of maintenance which are due, particularly where the debt arose through the imposition of punitive interim maintenance assessments designed to secure the absent parent's co-operation. However, a decision not to pursue the debt in an individual case will be made only after all reasonable steps to enforce payment have been taken and after full consideration of all the circumstances of the absent parent, the parent with care and the welfare of the children involved.
Where the parent with care is entitled to income support or family credit her benefit will be assessed on the basis of maintenance in payment, not maintenance due to be paid.
465W
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many and what proportion of lone parents are receiving regular payments of child maintenance in(a) Coventry and (b) Coventry, South. [21794]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyIt is not right that so many fathers should seek to avoid paying maintenance. We are determined to ensure that all absent parents meet their responsibility to their children wherever they can afford to do so.
The information is not available in the format requested. The latest information shows that, where full maintenance assessments have been completed for absent parents to pay maintenance through the Child Support Agency, 33 per cent. are paying all the maintenance due, 35 per cent. are partially compliant and 32 per cent. are not complying.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what progress is being made in conjunction with the Child Support Agency in ensuring that lone parents receive regular maintenance payments. [21796]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyWe are looking closely at all aspects of the work of the Child Support Agency to see where improvements can be made and we aim to bring forward proposals in the first half of next year. In the meantime, we have already announced that an extra £15 million will be invested in the Agency in each of the next two financial years specifically aimed at increasing the amounts of maintenance which are paid.
§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will list for the eight pilot new deal for lone parents schemes from July 1997 to 15 December 1997 how many(a) letters were sent out to lone parents, (b) lone parents attended interviews or booked interviews, (c)lone parents agreed to continue to participate following an interview, (d) lone parents found jobs following agreement to participate, (e) lone parents failed to respond to the initial letter sent to them and (f) lone parents declined to participate following an interview with a personal adviser. [21853]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe information is not available in the format requested as sufficient data to evaluate the results of the New Deal for Lone Parents are not yet available, and conclusions cannot be drawn from early figures. A full report of the New Deal for Lone Parents will be published in 1999.
Information on the operation of the New Deal for Lone Parents is available up to and including 30 November.
As at 30 November 1997, 12,446 first invitations have been issued to lone parents; 4,454 initial interviews have been arranged, of which 3,049 lone parent interviews have taken place; 2,402 lone parents agreed to participate in the New Deal for Lone Parents programme following initial interviews; 864 lone parents have found jobs following agreement to participate in the New Deal for Lone Parents programme.
466WInformation on the number of lone parents who have failed to respond to initial letters is not available from the Management Information Statistics reports kept on New Deal for Lone Parents. However, Personal Advisers will follow up initial letters with further contacts.
Six hundred and forty seven lone parents declined to participate in the New Deal for Lone Parents programme following an interview with a personal adviser.
§ Mr. RooneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the cost of a maintenance disregard of(a) £5, (b) £10, (c) £15 and (d) £20 for lone parents in receipt of income support in the current year; and what are the projected costs for (i) 1998–99, (ii) 1999–2000 and (iii) 2000–01. [22162]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyChild support is a central part of the Government's strategy for helping lone mothers off income support and into work. The estimated costs of a maintenance disregard in income support are set out in the table:
Weekly disregard Estimated cost (£ million) (£) 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 5 15 55 60 65 10 20 95 100 110 15 30 130 140 150 20 35 150 170 185 1 All costs rounded to the nearest £5 million.
2. The estimated costs for this year are based on an assumed introduction of the disregard at the beginning of January 1998.