HC Deb 18 May 1994 vol 243 cc523-6W
Mr. Ingram

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many absent parents whose cases were taken on by the Child Support Agency during 1993–94 were on income support; of these how many were(a) exempt from the £2.20 deductions made from income support in lieu of child maintenance, (b) subject to the £2.20 deductions; and how many of the maintenance assessments calculated using the child support formula issued by the end of March were (i) nil assessments, other than those for absent parents on income support and (ii) minimum assessment of £2.20 a week, as opposed to deductions from income support.

Mr. Burt

The 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. Adam Ingram, dated 17 May 1994: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about benefit deductions. Not all of the information you have requested is available. To the end of March 1994, 40,446 assessments involved cases where the absent parent was in receipt of income support. I understand that for the quarter ending 28 February 1994, the Benefits Agency had made deductions from income support in 16,413 cases. In addition to those cases involving an absent parent on income support, a further 6,981 assessments resulted in the absent parent being assessed as unable to pay more than the minimum contribution which is now £2.30. I am sorry that this reply is not more helpful.

Mr. Ingram

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in how many cases dealt with by the Child Support Agency in 1993–94 the alleged absent parent disputed paternity; how many of these cases have been resolved without reference to court and in how many of these paternity was established; how many disputed paternity cases have been referred to court by the agency; how many cases have been heard to date and in how many paternity has been established by the court; and how many disputed paternity cases are unresolved to date.

Mr. Burt

The 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. Adan Ingram, dated 17 May 1994: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about disputed paternity cases. I am grateful to you for raising the matter of disputed paternity again as I was about to write to you on the subject, following further information which has now come to light. When I wrote to you on 31 March in response to Question 1482, Official Report column 1026, I inadvertently provided incorrect figures. I am sorry that the information quoted, which was based on computerised information, was not accurate. We are undertaking immediate action to rectify the error. The current position based on clerical checks is that from April 1993 to the end of March 1994, the absent parent disputed paternity in 3,006 cases. Of these, 657 cases were resolved without reference to court and 80 were withdrawn as paternity investigations were progressing. Information is not available on the establishment of paternity in those cases which were resolved without reference to the courts. At the end of March 1994, 2,269 cases remained to be resolved and some 23 cases have been referred to the courts but none has yet completed a full hearing. I hope this reply is helpful and I apologise again for providing incorrect information earlier.

Mr. Ingram

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many section 18 and section 17 reviews of child support officers were requested during 1993–94; how many of each were outstanding at the end of the financial year; in how many of those resolved in each case the decision had been revised; and what is the average number of weeks that the outstanding reviews have been awaiting decison in each Child Support Agency centre.

Mr. Burt

The 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. Adam Ingram, dated 17 May 1994: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about child support reviews. Not all of the information you have requested is available. I can however tell you that during 1993–94 the Agency processed 20,211 Section 17 reviews. The assessment was revised in 19,952 of those. I am also able to provide you with some of the information about Section 18 reviews. During 1993–94 there were requests for 25,013 such reviews of which 13,281 were cleared leaving 11,732 reviews outstanding.

Mr. Ingram

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many of the maintenance application forms issued by the Child Support Agency during 1993–94 have been issued to(a) non-benefit claimants, (b) family credit claimants, (c) new income support claimants and (d) existing income support claimants; and how many have been issued to absent parents.

Mr. Burt

The 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. Adam Ingram, dated 17 May 1994: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the issue of maintenance application forms. During the period from April 1993 to the end of March 1994, a total of 858,000 maintenance application forms were issued. Of these, 29,600 were issued to clients who do not receive any of the prescribed benefits; 223,800 were issued to parents with care in receipt of either Family Credit or Disability Working Allowance; 320,400 were issued to new and repeat applicants for Income Support and 284,200 were issued to parents with care in receipt of Income Support before 5th April 1993. Information is not recorded on the number of application forms issued to Absent Parents.

Mr. Ingram

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 31 March,Official Report, column 1026, if he will make a statement on the relationship between deductions from earnings orders issued by the Child Support Agency by the end of February and the number of accounts in arrears.

Mr. Burt

The 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. Adam Ingram, dated 17 May 1994: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the deductions from earnings orders which have been issued by the Child Support Agency, and the number of client accounts in arrears. I regret that validated data on accounts in arrears is not currently available. The Child Support Computer System is being upgraded to provide additional information. The Agency had however issued an estimated 1,400 deductions from earnings orders by the end of February 1994.

Mr. Ingram

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many of the maintenance assessments issued by the Child Support Agency during 1993–94 were interim assessments; how many of these interim maintenance assessments have been subsequently replaced by final maintenance assessments, and how many interim assessments remained in force at 31 March; whether the final maintenance assessment for cases where an interim assessment is originally made appears in the monthly Child Support Agency statistics as another assessment made, and whether the monthly statistics could differentiate interim and final assessments; and when he will be able to give a breakdown of the number of category A interim assessments and category B interim assessments.

Mr. Burt

The 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. Adam Ingram, dated 17 May 1994: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about interim maintenance assessments. From April 1993 to the end of March 1994, 73,300 interim maintenance assessments were issued, of which 25,000 were converted to final maintenance assessments. 48,300 interim maintenance assessments remained in place at the end of the period. A breakdown of these figures by category is not available. When an interim assessment is included in statistical reports it is excluded on conversion to a full maintenance assessment. Total assessments reported for statistical purposes therefore refer to the number of cases where initial assessments have been made. Information on the number of interim maintenance assessments issued will be included in future monthly reports placed in the Library of the House.

Mr. Ingram

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 31 March,Official Report, column 1025, regarding the Child Support Agency, in how many section 6 cases the issue of the requirement to co-operate has been considered by the Child Support Agency during 1993–94; in how many of these cases he agreed that the parent with care need not be required to co-operate; in how many of these cases the agency accepted that there was a risk of harm or undue distress, and what was the range of other reasons accepted for not requiring co-operation; how many parents with care subsequently gave the authorisation or information; how many reduced benefit directions were issued in 1993–94; and when the agency will begin to monitor the number of applicants who have given authorisation but subsequently seek to withdraw it.

Mr. Burt

The 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. Adam Ingram, dated 17 May 1994: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the requirement to co-operate. During the period April 1993 to March 1994, the requirement to co-operate was considered in 64,800 cases. After investigation, good cause not to co-operate was accepted in 31,700 cases. Of these, 8,400 were cases where the parent with care was unable to name the parent of the child; 15,800 were cases where there was a risk of violence and 7,500 were cases where other reasons such as emotional distress, mental illness or concern for the welfare of the child were accepted. After interview, 14,200 parents with care subsequently provided their authorisation or the necessary information. In the same period, 627 Reduced Benefit Directions were referred to the Benefits Agency for implementation. The Agency keeps its management information systems in this area under review. At this stage there are no firm plans to record routinely the number of applicants who provide authorisation and subsequently withdraw it.