§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the administration cost of the Child Support Agency was in each of the last six years; and what the projected expenditure is for 2003–04. [152843]
§ Mr. PondThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Steve Webb, dated 2 March 2004:
In replying to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked what the administration cost of the Child Support Agency was in each of the last six years; and what the projected expenditure is for 2003–04.
The net operating costs of the Agency as included in the Annual Statement of Accounts are.
£ million 1997–98 225.9 1998–99 231.2 1999–00 260.3 2000–01 250 2001–02 290.4 2002–03 294.3 The projected expenditure for 2003–04 for which the Agency is directly accountable is £320 million. The actual costs will be available when the Agency Accounts are published in July 2004.
I hope this is helpful.
§ Nick HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) when Child Support Agency cases initiated before March 2003 will be transferred to the new system; and if he will make a statement; [153619]
(2) whether all Child Support Agency cases will be transferred to the new system at the same time; and if he will make a statement. [153620]
§ Mr. PondI refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Dartford (Dr. Stoate) on 27 January 2004,Official Report, column 341W.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the timetable is for migration from the old to the new Child Support Agency scheme; and what factors affect the timetable. [155145]
850W
§ Mr. PondI refer the hon. Member to the Written Answer I gave the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) on 18 December 2003,Official Report, column 1092W.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were on each of the Child Support Agency schemes in each month since the inception of the new scheme. [155412]
§ Mr. PondThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. David Drew, dated 2 March 2004:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were on each of the Child Support Agency schemes in each month since the inception of the new scheme. Because of issues associated with producing management information from the new computer system I cannot answer your question precisely in the format that it is asked. I can however indicate in the table below, the number of cases where;
either an assessment (old scheme) or a calculation (new scheme) has been completed as at each month end since March 2003, andfor old scheme cases the record is held on the "old" computer system and for new scheme cases it is held on our "new" computer system.
Old scheme New scheme March 993,940 10 April 978,420 731 May 960,680 2,541 June 943,880 6,671 July 917,520 13,593 August 899,200 20,792 September 882,800 30,528 October 861,340 42,335 November 839,620 52,310 December 824,460 60,200 In addition there are around 120,000 "old scheme" cases operating on the new computer system. I cannot at this stage indicate the number of these cases at monthly rests. But the growth in this number toward the current total will mirror the decline in old scheme case numbers set out in the table above.
I hope that this is helpful.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will make a statement on the performance of the Child Support Agency's new reforms IT system; [155885]
(2) when he estimates the Department's Child Support Agency new reforms IT system recovery programme will be completed; and if he will make a statement. [155886]
§ Mr. PondThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Steve Webb, dated 2 March 2004:
In replying to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
851WYou asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to make a statement on the performance of the Child Support Agency's new reforms IT system and also asked when does he estimate the Department's Child Support Agency new reforms IT system recovery programme will be completed.
The Secretary of State issued a Written Statement on the performance of the Agency on 12 February 2004. We are continuing to work with EDS on the detail of their proposed recovery plan and that has not yet been finalised.
§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the new computer programme for the Child Support Agency. [157254]
§ Mr. PondThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Lindsay Hoyle, dated 2 March 2004:
In replying to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to make a statement on the new computer programme for the Child Support Agency.
The Secretary of State issued a Written Statement on the performance of the Agency on 12 February 2004.
§ Mr. GoodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by what date he will decide whether to cease to use the new computer system provided by EDS to assess Child Support Agency cases; and if he will make a statement. [158130]
§ Mr. PondI refer the hon. Member to the Written Answer I gave the hon. Member for Tamworth (Mr. Jenkins) on 12 February 2004.Official Report, column 1591W.