§ Mr. DarlingTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the target time for the Child Support Agency to answer inquiries about cases; in what percentage of inquiries the target is reached; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Miss Ann Chant, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Alistair Darling, dated 23 November 1994:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency's target time for answering written queries.Under its current Charter Standard the Agency aims to reply to all routine written enquiries within 10 working days of receipt. Figures published for the period April 1994 to August 1994 show we replied to 29 per cent. of such enquiries within this timescale.These results are disappointing, but the Agency is working to improve performance.
§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps are taken by the Child Support Agency to investigate the financial circumstances where the parent with care is self-employed.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Miss Ann Chant, the chief executive. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Dr. Lynne Jones, dated 23 November 1994:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about steps taken to investigate the financial circumstances where the parent with care is self-employed.The formula for assessing maintenance is applied equally to both the parent with care and the absent parent. where either parent is self-employed, they will need to provide evidence to the Agency about their business. Details of the information required by the Agency and the steps taken to verify such information are contained in the Child Support Adjudication Guide and the Child Support Manual, copies of which are held in the Library.I hope that this reply is helpful.
§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps are taken by the Child Support Agency to investigate cases where the parent with care is fraudulently claiming benefit; and how many such cases have been discovered since the agency was set up.
§ Mr. BurtAs an intermediary between two parties in the arrangement of child maintenance, the Child Support Agency has no direct role in the detection of fraud, although if social security benefits are in payment and a potential fraud against the benefits system is alleged, relevant information is passed to the Benefits Agency or the Employment Service.
Although figures are not available for the entire period since the Child Support Agency was get up, in the first six months of 1994–95, the Child Support Agency referred 5,561 cases to the Benefits Agency for investigation. In the same period, the Benefits Agency identified benefit savings on a total of 2,213 cases which had been referred by the Child Support Agency. No referrals have been made to the Employment Service.
§ Mr. MillsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how long the Child Support Agency takes to process an assessment from the receipt of the information from all persons involved based on the child support charter.
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§ Mr. BurtThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Miss A Chant, the chief executive. She will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Iain Mills, dated 23 November 1994:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency's clearance times.The Child Support Agency Charter Standard relating to maintenance assessments is to aim to write with an assessment within 5 working days of receiving all information needed from both parents. Figures published for the period to August 1994 shows performance as 17 per cent. but this reflects the fact that the Agency is clearing older cases.