§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will update his answer of 20 June 1996,Official Report, column 594, regarding incoming telephone calls to the Child Support Agency. [21474]
§ Mr. Andrew MitchellThe 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 Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 21 March 1997:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security regarding incoming telephone calls to the Child Support Agency.The latest information available shows that during the period 1 February 1997 to 28 February 1997 the total calls offered by British Telecom to the Agency was 1,622,542.I hope this is helpful.
§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many incoming telephone calls were made to(a) the Child Support Agency centres and (b) the national inquiry line in each month since January 1996. [21466]
§ Mr. MitchellThe 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 Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 21 March 1997:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the number of incoming telephone calls made to the Child Support Centres and the National Enquiry Line (NEL) since January 1996.The attached table contains the number of incoming calls on a monthly basis from January 1996. From April 1996, the period of time over which information is collected changed; information is now collected and recorded over four-weekly periods instead of calendar months.The attached figures refer to incoming calls offered by BT which represents the total number of incoming calls made.I hope this is helpful.1015W
Date Calls offered to calls handling service by BT Calls offered to NEL by BT January 1996 776,796 57,352 February 1996 518,573 84,553 March 1996 423,383 190,054 Lunar month 1 648,908 49,349 Lunar month 2 639,314 52,564 Lunar month 3 761,822 54,061
Date Calls offered to calls handling service by BT Calls offered to NEL by BT Lunar month 4 839,703 61,459 Lunar month 5 950,697 62,532 Lunar month 6 1,426,839 38,419 Lunar month 7 1,527,399 72,332 Lunar month 8 1,342,146 69,171 Lunar month 9 1,774,091 86,995 Lunar month 10 627,359 42,816 Lunar month 11 1,394,469 77,589 Lunar month 12 1,622,542 96,824
§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each month since April 1995 the number of deduction of earnings orders(a) imposed by the Child Support Agency, (b) in force at the end of each month and (c) lifted each month. [21467]
§ Mr. MitchellThe 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 Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 21 March 1997:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency deduction from earnings orders.Not all of the requested information is readily available. I have attached a table showing a monthly breakdown since April 1995 of the number of new deduction from earnings orders issued.I hope this is helpful.
Number of DEOs issued April 1995 2,384 May 1995 3,516 June 1995 3,357 July 1995 3,851 August 1995 4,861 September 1995 4,097 October 1995 4,934 November 1995 6,703 December 1995 4,174 January 1996 5,400 February 1996 5,360 March 1996 4,294 Total 1995–96 52,931 April 1996 3,416 May 1996 3,806 June 1996 4,218 July 1996 4,100 August 1996 4,667 September 1996 5,077 October 1996 5,166 November 1996 6,767 December 1996 4,287 January 1997 6,310 February 1997 5,077 Total April 1996 to February 1997 52,891
§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many child support assessments(a) were being processed, and (b) were outstanding for more than 26 weeks at the end of each month since April 1996. [21468]
1016W
§ Mr. MitchellThe 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 Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 21 March 1997:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency assessments.I am unable to provide you with precisely the information that you have requested. The Agency measures its performance on the clearance of assessments against its Secretary of State target for 60% of new maintenance applications to be cleared within 26 weeks, and as at 31 March 1997 no more than 10% of all maintenance applications received to be over 52 weeks old.The attached table gives details of the Agency's performance against this target, together with the number of cases being actioned at the end of each month from April 1996.I hope this is helpful.
Number of cases being actioned Percentage of maintenance assessments cleared with in 26 weeks Percentage of maintenance assessments over 52 weeks old April 1996 422,454 53 15 May 1996 428,244 52 15 June 1996 435,603 51 16 July 1996 440,741 51 15 August 1996 449,852 51 15 September 1996 456,810 51 15 October 1996 456,590 51 15 November 1996 451,608 51 14 December 1996 441,784 51 14 January 1997 432,150 52 13 February 1997 418,369 53 13
§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many outstanding cases are being processed by the Child Support Agency; and how many were being processed on the same date in each of the last three years. [20169]
§ Mr. MitchellThe 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 Miss Ann Chant to Mr. John McAUion, dated 21 March 1997:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about cases being actioned by the Child Support Agency.To give a complete picture, set out in the table below are the numbers of cases which form the caseload of the Agency, the number of cases cleared from launch and the number being actioned at the end of the last three financial years, together with figures at the end of February 1997.
Approximate caseload1 Number of cases cleared from launch(cumulative) Number of cases being actioned March 1994 203,600 336,232 550,000 March 1995 345,400 904,381 425,561 March 1996 460,800 1,231,235 409,659 February 1997 545,900 1,553,308 418,369 1 Figures quoted are from the nearest published Quarterly Statistical Survey. I hope this is helpful.
1017W
§ Ms LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for each month since April 1994 the number of(a) referrals from the Child Support Agency to the Independent Tribunal Service, (b) referrals outstanding for more than 26 weeks, (c) referrals where the Independent Tribunal Service found in favour of (1) the client and (2) the Child Support Agency and (d) recommendations made by the Independent Tribunal Service which were (i) accepted and (ii) not accepted by the Child Support Agency. [21469]
§ Mr. MitchellI will write to the hon. Member shortly.