HC Deb 26 May 1994 vol 244 cc247-9W

Ms Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were the response rates to all telephone inquiries to the inquiry line and Child Support Agency centres serving the west midlands within the last 12 months.

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 Ms Joan Walley, dated 26 May 1994: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about telephone enquiries to the Child Support Agency. I am afraid that the Agency does not keep statistics in the form that you have requested. However, I can tell you that between 12 April 1993 and 8 April 1994, the Agency received a total of 676,018 calls on the National Enquiry Line, 97,887 of which were dealt with at the Agency's Centre in Dudley. On average, Dudley Centre also dealt with approximately 140,000 calls a month which were dialled to the Centre switchboard. The first year of the Agency's operations has stimulated a great deal of activity and I am aware of the difficulties experienced by some clients in contacting the Agency by telephone. We have already examined ways in which this service can be improved, and are now making some changes. From the end of June, new National Enquiry Line arrangements will be put into effect involving some 60-80 staff the majority of whom will already be experienced in dealing with telephone enquiries and who will be suitably trained in Agency business. These staff will be centrally located, rather than as now spread throughout the Agency's Centres, with the aim of providing a more dedicated core service. Additionally, from the end of June the Agency will begin implementing a new system whereby each Centre will centralise its handling of telephone enquiries.

Mr. Worthington

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how much extra money has gone to the Treasury since the Child Support Agency started operations;

(2) how much extra money has gone to the children of families with an absent parent since the Child Support Agency started operations.

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. Tony Worthington, dated 26 May 1994: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the amount of money which has gone to the Treasury and the amount to the children of families with an absent parent since the Child Support Agency started operations. At the end of March the Agency had recorded £335 million in benefit savings in 1993–94. This does not represent the total savings as some will be recorded retrospectively. Where maintenance is paid direct from one parent to the other, and the collection service provided by the Agency is not used, the Agency would not as a matter of course receive information on the amount or frequency of maintenance payments made. Records are therefore not available of the total sums paid. I hope this reply is helpful.

Mr. Hoon

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 16 May,Official Report, column 353 if he will explain the method used by his Department to calculate the number of cases taken on by the Child Support Agency where people were not already paying maintenance; and for what reason these figures are given as an estimate.

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. Geoffrey Hoon, dated 26 May 1994: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about cases taken on by the Child Support Agency. The number of cases taken on by the Child Support Agency where people were not already paying maintenance is calculated from the number of cases of different types taken on by the Agency and the proportion of cases of each type in which maintenance was not already in payment. Whilst information is available on the number of cases of each type taken on, actual data on the proportions in which maintenance was not already in payment is not collected for all case types. These figures are therefore based on estimates which, for new and repeat income support cases, represent the proportion of cases with maintenance already in payment prior to Agency involvement and are derived from the Department's Annual Statistical Enquiry. For Family Credit cases a similar estimate is derived from the Departmental Family Credit Statistics.