§ 30. Siobhain McDonaghTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action the Government have taken to improve support for children through the social security system. [58398]
§ Angela EagleWe have announced a series of measures which will improve the financial support given to children through the benefits system. These include
Child Benefit for the eldest child will be increased from next April, by the largest ever amount, and from 9 November families on Income Support and Family Credit have been getting an extra £2.50 for each child under 11.The New Deal for Lone Parents offers a tailor-made service of help and advice for people who are bringing up children on their own to make the move from Income Support into employment. We are investing over £190 million to help lone parents who want to work.Two significant improvements in the support for disabled children were announced in October 1998 in our consultation document "A New Contract for Welfare—Support for Disabled People": the Disability Income Guarantee, and the extension of the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance to children aged three and four.
§ Mr. CaplinTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what progress the Child Support Agency has made in clearing its backlogs; and if he will make a statement. [60231]
§ Angela EagleThe Child Support Agency met its target for last year to reduce the maintenance assessment backlog (i.e. cases which are over 52 weeks old and have not yet been assessed) to less than 5 per cent. of applications received, and is on target to clear the remainder by the end of this financial year. As the older cases are cleared some Non Resident Parents will inevitably be assessed as owing arrears for periods dating back a number of years.
We can today announce that we are extending the temporary scheme introduced by the previous Government limiting the collection of arrears to six months as long as the Non Resident Parent is fully compliant for a period of 12 months.
Additionally, from Monday 30 November, we will also be extending the coverage of this scheme to include cases where arrears have arisen due to delays in reviews carried out on change of circumstance and in the reviews carried out every two years as required by Section 16 of the Child Support Act 1991.
The extension of this scheme is another indication of the continuing difficulties faced by the Child Support Agency. The complexity of the current formula, continues to limit the Agency's ability to provide the kind of service the public has the right to expect. Our proposals for a 394W new, simple, straightforward and transparent service were set out in the Green Paper "CHILDREN FIRST: a new approach to child support" published in July this year.