§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the present criteria for deciding whether his Department will collect maintenance payments on behalf of income support claimants; and in what proportion of cases these arrangements currently operate.
§ Mr. JackThe Department will collect maintenance payments on behalf of a claimant to income support if the liable relative does not pay the full maintenance due, pays late or misses a payment. Payments can also be collected by the Department where there are other good grounds for doing so—for instance, if there is a threat of violence from the liable relative.
The latest information held is for May 19891, and shows that at that time just under a quarter of maintenance payments for income support claimants were collected on their behalf by the Department.
1 Source: Annual Statistical Enquiry, May 1989.