Child Support Agency (Hansard, 24 January 1997)

§ Mr. Hoon
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many Child Support Agency cases of a maintenance inquiry form being incorrectly issued following an identity check of the absent parent against centrally held departmental records have been recorded by his Department on the latest date for which figures are available. [11160]

§ Mr. Andrew Mitchell
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant CB. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ann Chant to Mr. Geoffrey Hoon, dated 23 January 1997: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about maintenance enquiry forms by the Child Support Agency. The Agency has monitored the numbers of incorrectly issued maintenance enquiry forms (MEFs) only since April 1994. Information is not therefore available for the first year of operation. 771W Before any MEF is issued, the identity of the absent parent concerned is verified against the Department's Central Index. A MEF can be issued incorrectly either where the parent with care has given the Agency incorrect or incomplete information or where the Agency has incorrectly identified an absent parent. From April 1996, I am able to provide a breakdown of figures identifying clearly who was responsible for the incorrect MEF issue. In the period 1 April 1994 to 30 November 1996 (the latest date for which published figures are available), the Agency recorded a total of 186 incorrectly issued MEFs. The majority (115) occurred in 1994/95, with a further 45 in the following year. In the current year (since 1 April 1996) the figure is 26; of these, 11 were the fault of the Agency. In total, these cases represent 0.03% of the total number of MEFs issued in the same period, i.e. approximately 605,000. I hope this is helpful.

§ Mr. Bayley
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims for child support were being(a) paid and (b) processed by the Child Support Agency at 31 July 1996. [11295]

§ Mr. Mitchell
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant CB. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ann Chant to Mr. Hugh Bayley, dated 23 January 1997: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question asking for the number of claims to child support which were being paid and processed by the Child Support Agency at 31st July 1996. I must explain that the Child Support Agency does not receive claims for child support nor does it make payments for this purpose. Instead, an application must be made to the Agency by the absent parent or the parent with care for an assessment of child support liability to be made. Any money that is subsequently paid, comes from the absent parent—the Agency holds no funds of its own. Since the inception of the Agency up to the 31 July 1996, the Agency had received 1.73 million applications for a child support assessment. This figure included cases where the parent with care was in receipt of Income Support, Family Credit or Disability Working Allowance where there is a requirement upon the parent with care to make an application. At 31 July 1996 the Agency had cleared 1.33 million applications for a child support assessment. I hope this is helpful.

§ Mr. Rooney
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many claims were submitted to the special payments unit of the Child Support Agency in each of the last three years for which figures are available; how many(a) have been settled, (b) have been refused and (c) are outstanding; and what was the total amount of money paid out; [12434]
(2) against which vote payments by the special payments unit of the Child Support Agency are charged. [12430]

§ Mr. Mitchell
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant CB. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ann Chant to Mr. Terry Rooney, dated 23 January 1997: I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency Special Payments Unit. The total number of claims submitted to the Special Payments Unit of the Child Support Agency for the years 1994/95, 1995/96 and 1996/97 (to 31 December 1996) were 545, 1013 and 1567 respectively. Of the total 3125 received, 962 have been settled and 1138 have been refused. 772W At 31 December 1996, there were 643 cases at various stages of action in the Special Payments Unit, and 382 cases where additional information was required before a decision could be reached. The total monies paid out during the period is £641,863. All special payments made by the Child Support Agency are charged through Vote 3. I hope this is helpful.