§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints in relation to Child Support Agency cases were received in(a) 1997–98, (b) 1998–99, (c) 1999–2000 and (d) 2000–01 by (i) the Child Support Agency, (ii) the Child Support Agency independent case examiner and (iii) the Parliamentary Ombudsman. [4162]
§ Malcolm Wicks[holding answer 16 July 2001]: The number of complaints that the agency has received has decreased in comparison with an increase in the agency's caseload. Also, while the number of complaints referred to the independent case examiner (ICE) and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (PCA) has increased, this is also against an increase in the caseload of the agency.
The Child Support Agency only started to count how many complaints it received from 1999–2000. Prior to this, the agency only counted how many complaints were being cleared.
691W
Agency caseload (as at March of each year) Number 1999 1,030,100 2000 1,048,920
Number of complaints received by the agency Number 1999–2000 21,015 2000–01 19,634
Number of complaints received by the Independent Case Examiner Number 1997–98 1,087 1998–99 1,536 1999–2000 1,226 2000–01 1,488
Number of cases received by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration Number 1997–98 67 1998–99 51 1999–2000 102 2000–01 76
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the rate was of non-compliance in(a) 1997–98, (b) 1998–99, (c)1999–2000 and (d) 2000–01 with payment of maintenance assessments by the CSA; what the backlog of cases is at the CSA; how many cases have been outstanding for one year or more; what the level of outstanding debt is in the CSA and what percentage of that debt is considered unrecoverable; and what assessment he has made of the level of accuracy in maintenance assessments. [4163]
§ Malcolm Wicks[holding answer 16 July 2001]: Compliance has improved; we have increased the number of fully compliant cases by 16.03 per cent. in 2000–01.
Average rate of non-compliance Year Percentages 1997–98 31.4 1998–99 30.8 1999–2000 30.1 2000–01 28.7 There are 186,323 cases awaiting initial assessment and of these 47,209 are over 52 weeks old.
As of March 2001, the level of outstanding debt was £527,802,484. From this figure the percentage of debt that would possibly be uncollectable is 39.5 per cent.
The accuracy of the most recent action taken on cases was 78.5 per cent.
§ Mr. Denis MurphyTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many child support claimants have had to wait more than six months from the date their claim was submitted before their first payment is received in the last three years; [6296]
(2) what average period of time elapses between the Child Support Agency receiving a claim and the claimant receiving their first payment. [6297]
692W
§ Malcolm WicksThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Mr. Doug Smith to Mr. Denis Murphy, dated 20 July 2001:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions about the Child Support Agency.You have asked how many child support claimants have had to wait more than six months from the date their claim was submitted before their first payment is received in the last three years. Also what average period of time elapses between the Child Support Agency receiving a claim and the claimant receiving their first payment.Your questions cannot be answered in the precise format you require as this information is not gathered in the way you have requested.In 1998–99 our target was to clear 65 per cent. of new maintenance assessments within 22 weeks and we achieved a target of 62 per cent.In 1999–2000 our target was changed to clear 65 per cent. of new maintenance assessments within 20 weeks, we achieved 51 per cent. clearance.This target was discontinued in 2000–01 and we are now aiming to reduce our outstanding work across all key areas.We are striving to improve performance in key areas and have introduced more robust measures to support this process for the corning year.We do not measure the average time between receipt of an application for maintenance and the client receiving their first payment.The Department produces a CSA Quarterly Summary of Statistics which is available in the House of Commons Library and you may find the information it contains of further interest.