HC Deb 30 November 1994 vol 250 cc743-5W
Mr. Fisher

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he will publish tables to show, for each Child Support Agency office,(a) performance in relation to overall clearance targets, (b) the total number of cases outstanding, (c) the number of people who have requested that their assessments be reviewed due to change of circumstances, (d) the number of cases still outstanding and how many of those have been outstanding for longer than (i) six months and (ii) 12 months and (e) how many appeals are outstanding, and for how long.

Mr. Burt

The 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 Ann Chant to Mr. Mark Fisher, dated 29 November 1994: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the performance of the Child Support Agency against overall clearance targets and the number and age of change of circumstances reviews and appeals. The Agency does not collect all of the information in the format that your require. The information available relates to each Child Support Agency Centre (CSAC) and is shown in the attached tables. Prior to August 1994 the Agency did not count the number of reviews requested following a change of circumstance. Since August, the Agency has identified the age of all such outstanding reviews and has monitored the issue of review forms. I hope that this reply is of help.

Time taken to clear cases - between 1 April 1994 and 30 September 1994
Per cent.
40 days or less 38
More than 40 days and up to 100 days 10
More than 100 days 52

B) Total cases outstanding at 30 September 1994
Number
Dudley 64,191
Hastings 58,569
Falkirk 86,344
Plymouth 68,520
Birkenhead 89,237
Belfast 106,953
Agency 473,814

C) Change of circumstance review forms issued
CSAC August September Total
Dudley 480 305 785
Hastings 598 466 1,064
Falkirk 174 124 298
Plymouth 618 673 1,291
Birkenhead 249 493 742
Belfast 187 128 315
Agency 2,306 2,189 4,495

D) Change of circumstance review requests outstanding—by age at 30 September 1994
CSAC 0–3 months 3–6 months > 6 months
Dudley 1,757 1,174 2,072
Hastings 3,199 475 104
Falkirk 1,166 139 6
Plymouth N/A N/A N/A1
Birkenhead 761 188 191
Belfast 513 281 130
Agency2 7,396 2,252 2,503
1 Figures not available for Plymouth CSAC in this format. Total number of reviews outstanding at Plymouth CSAC = 4,113.
2 Does not include total figure for Plymouth CSAC.

E) Appeals outstanding by age at 30 September
CSAC 0–3 months 3–6 months >6 months
Dudley 284 14 —
Hastings 137 131 88
Falkirk 300 215 —
Plymouth 499 165 6
Birkenhead 449 123 —

E) Appeals outstanding by age at 30 September
CSAC 0–3 months 3–6 months > 6 months
Belfast 204 143 51
Agency 1,873 791 145