§ Mr. BettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what is the value of the maintenance payments which have been received and held by the Child Support Agency; and for how many days on average such payments have been held;
(2) what plans he has to improve the performance of the Child Support Agency in passing on maintenance payments it receives to parents with care;
(3) what is the target time by which the Child Support Agency is expected to pass on maintenance payments received from parents without care responsibility to those with care;
(4) in how many cases maintenance payments received by the Child Support Agency have not been passed on to the parent with care after seven days; and what percentage of cases this represents.
§ 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 Chart to Mr. Clive Betts, dated 19 October 1994:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the length of time taken to pass maintenance payments received by the Child Support Agency to parents with care.To the end of July 1994, the Agency had collected about £30 million in maintenance payments arising from Child Support Agency assessments.Straightforward cases that generally do not involve benefit payments are likely to be processed in a matter of days. However, in cases where income support is involved benefit details have to be checked with the benefits Agency and it has taken, on average, around ten weeks to process these payments. We recognise that this is unacceptable and have already introduced improved procedures to speed up the process.At the end of August 1994, we estimate that there were some 9,000 cases where child maintenance had been paid to the Agency, but some or all of the maintenance had not been forwarded to either the parent with care, or the Secretary of State. To breakdown that figure to show the number over seven days old and the number involving parents with care only, would incur disproportionate cost. This total figure represented less than 4 per cent. of the total number of live cases.
§ Mr. BettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social
Year 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 21994 No. 7 3 4 — 1 — — 2 (b) to (d) The information is in the table.
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1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 21994 (b) — — — — — — — — (c)1 — — — 1 — — — 1 (d)1 32 10 20 23 21 17 31 21 Security (1) how many parents with care have waited (a) one month, (b) two months, (c) three months, (d) six months and (e) one year since the Child Support Act 1991 came into force to receive their first maintenance payment through the Child Support Agency from the date of first application; and what percentage of applications each group represents;
(2) how many parents with care have currently been waiting (a) one month, (b) two months, (c) three months, (d) six months and (e) one year to receive the first maintenance payment through the Child Support Agency from the date of first application; and what percentage of applications each group represents.
§ 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. Clive Betts, dated 19 October 1994:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security on outstanding claims for child maintenance.Information in the format you have requested is not available. However information is available as follows:
Age of Cases Outstanding as at 31 August 1994 Per cent. Over 13 weeks old 403,187 79 per cent. Over 26 weeks old 346,135 68 per cent. Over 52 weeks old Figures Figures not yet available not yet available
Time taken to clear cases between 1 April and 31 August 1994 per cent. 40 days or less 37 More than 40 days and up to 100 days 15 More than 100 days 48