§ Lady Olga MaitlandTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many mothers are no longer living on social benefits as a result of intervention by the Child Support Agency on their behalf.
§ Mr. BurtThe information is not available. In the long run, we estimate that increased payments of child maintenance under the Child Support Act 1991 will result in some 60,000 to 80,000 lone parents moving off income support. It is expected that the majority of these will move on to family credit. Of lone parents already on family credit, we estimate that around 10,000 will move off this benefit in the long run. These estimates are based on 1987–88–89 family expenditure survey data.
§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the budget for the Child Support Agency for each of the next three years; and how much public expenditure they expect to release through work in(a) tracking down fathers who never paid maintenance for their children and (b) upgrading the contributions that parents living with another partner on income support make for the welfare of their children.
1055W
§ Mr. BurtAgency budgets from this year's public expenditure settlement have not yet been finalised. However, planned expenditure in the 1992 settlement is in the table.
£ million 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 Running costs 109 128 130 Capital 7 3 2 Other 5 4 4 Total 121 135 136 Source: DSS Departmental Report 1993.
No decisions have yet been made about the benefit savings targets for the Child Support Agency next year.
§ Mr. ChannonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether it is the practice of the Child Support Agency to send to ex-wives the agency's assessment of the wages of the ex-husband; and how this complies with the agency's obligations of secrecy under the Data Protection Act 1984.
§ Mr. BurtRegulation 10 of the Child Support (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) Regulations 1992 provides for a maintenance assessment notification, which is sent both to the parent with care and to the absent parent, to show the details of both parents' assessable income, so that both have the information necessary to enable them to ask for a review or appeal should they believe there are grounds for this. The Data Protection Act 1984 allows for the disclosure of information which is provided for under other legislation.
§ Mr. ChannonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he proposes to announce his conclusions after his study of the work and operations of the Child Support Agency.
§ Mr. BurtI have been examining comments and concerns raised about some aspects of the child support arrangements and their implementation, and am considering the first report of the Social Security Select Committee on the operation of the Child Support Act. I shall make an announcement as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Clifton-BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what measures the Child Support Agency is taking to speed up the process by which all cases referred to it are handled.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, dated December 1993:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking about the measures the Child Support Agency is taking to speed up the processing of cases.In the light of operational experience over the first three months of activity, we decided there were benefits in terms of productivity in increasing the involvement of our field offices in the processing of cases. The initial part of this process, involving the issuing of maintenance application and enquiry forms has already been transferred from our regional centres to field offices.1056WThe Agency is committed to keeping processing times to a minimum, and we will continue to monitor and evaluate our performance as the business develops.I hope you will find this reply helpful.
§ Mr. HallTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many of the cases dealt with by the Child Support Agency since the inception involve the reassessment of maintenance payments by fathers already paying maintenance; and how many cases involve fathers who have previously not paid maintenance; and how many cases involve payments to women who are in receipt of income support.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 17 December 1993:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking questions about the operations of the Child Support Agency.To the end of October, the Agency has processed over 107,000 cases. Of these 56,800 have resulted in the assessment of maintenance. Figures are not kept on the proportion of these cases in which a maintenance arrangement was already in operation. We estimate, however, that about 50 per cent. of cases taken on by the Agency were already receiving maintenance.You also asked how many cases involve payments to women who are receiving income support. The Agency does not collect information on the number of assessments made, split by the status of the parent with care of children, so it is not possible to say in how many cases the parent with care was receiving income support.I hope you will find this reply helpful.
§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many inquiry packs were printed by the Child Support Agency; and at what total cost.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mr. Anthony Steen, dated 17 December 1993:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking for details about the enquiry packs.The number of maintenance enquiry packs printed in the first year of operations of the Child Support Agency is 1,110,500. These packs contain a maintenance enquiry form, together with a leaflet about the Agency, helpnotes, and, since October 1993, a leaflet explaining the standards a client can expect from the Agency. The total cost was £692,752.82 inclusive of Value Added Tax.I hope that you find this information useful.
§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many officials are employed in the Child Support Agency; and what is the current total salary bill.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mr. Anthony Steen, dated 17 December 1993:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking for details about the number of staff employed in the Child Support Agency and the total of their salaries.1057WAt the end of October 1993, the Agency had 4,794 members of staff. The current allocation for staff salaries is £73,780,000.I hope you find this information useful.
§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement as to the location of each Child Support Agency in the United Kingdom and give details of the office space used, rent paid and, the accommodation has been purchased, if it is freehold or leasehold.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mr. Anthony Steen, dated 17 December 1993:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking for details about Child Support Agency accommodation.The Agency has six major operational centres supported by a network of field staff co-located with Benefits Agency district offices and specialist Headquarters staff in London and Newcastle.Accommodation for headquarters staff in Newcastle and for field staff in Social Security offices is funded centrally by the Department of Social Security, and is not charged separately to the Agency.I am pleased to attach information on the remainder of the accommodation as an Annex to this letter.
Annex Child Support Agency Accommodation Location Space sq. ft. Rent sq. ft.£ Status Falkirk 77,825 11.63 Leased building Belfast 74,578 10.29 Leased building Birkenhead 79,717 9.53 Leased building Dudley 84,956 10.90 Leased building Hastings 103,275 4.15 Crown property Plymouth 82,903 9.81 Leased building Millbank Tower London 18,522 25.58 Leased building
§ Mr. ChannonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how quickly the Child Support Agency varies its assessment of wages when evidence can be produced that an earlier assessment of wages is too high.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the chief executive. She will write to my right hon. Friend.
Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mr. Paul Channon, dated 17 December 1993:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking how quickly the Child Support Agency will reassess a case when evidence is produced that the earlier assessment was based on wages which were too high.The Child Support Officer (CSO) has a legal requirement, when conducting a review, to notify both parties to the maintenance assessment. Both parties are then allowed to submit evidence to the CSO, and are then given the opportunity to comment on the review. Because of the necessity of gathering a great deal of information to ensure the review is carried out accurately, it is not yet possible to set specific clearance times for reviews. I am happy to reassure you that Agency staff are aware of the need to complete reviews as quickly as possible given the circumstances of each case.