Child Support Agency (Hansard, 20 April 1995)

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what proportion of absent parents deemed by the Child Support Agency to be paying child support maintenance for the first time are claiming one of the social security benefits prescribed in section 6 of the Child Support Act 1991; and what proportion are claiming any other state benefit or allowance; [18823]
(2) what proportion of absent parents who are deemed by the Child Support Agency to be paying child support maintenance for the first time claimed on the maintenance inquiry form that they were already paying child support maintenance; [18824]
(3) how many parents with care claim to be receiving no child support maintenance payments in cases where the absent parents have stated on the maintenance inquiry form that they are already paying child support maintenance. [18820]

§ 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 Ms Liz Lynne, dated 20 April 1995: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the proportion of absent parents on certain benefits and the proportion who were, or who were not already paying child maintenance when their cases were taken on by the Child Support Agency. 279W We estimate that 41 percent of all absent parents are in receipt of a social security benefit; 31 percent of all absent parents are in receipt of income support; and less than 2 percent are in receipt of family credit or disability working allowance. We estimate from our sampling that of the cases taken on between April 1994 and February 1995, about 77 percent of parents with care were not receiving child maintenance. Records of disputes between parents are not kept, but once an assessment is made, the Agency will resolve conflicting information concerning relevant payments of child maintenance.

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of parents with care receiving child support maintenance which has been arranged by the Child Support Agency are in receipt of the lone parent premium or have indicated on the maintenance application form that they are lone parents. [18819]

§ Mr. Burt
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 20 April 1995: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security concerning the proportion of parents with care with maintenance arranged by the Child Support Agency who are lone parents. We estimate that 92 per cent of parents with care (PWC) who have had their maintenance arranged by the Agency are lone parents. This figure includes PWCs who receive a lone parent premium within their benefit entitlement. I hope this is of help.

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the weekly income of absent parents who have been the subject of a child maintenance assessment by the Child Support Agency. [18827]

§ Mr. Burt
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 20 April 1995: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the weekly income of absent parents who have been the subject of a maintenance assessment by the Child Support Agency. The average net weekly income for absent parents who have declared an income from employment is estimated to be just under £196.00. I hope this is helpful.

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many deduction of earnings orders have been issued by the Child Support Agency; how many of these orders have subsequently been withdrawn; and how many of these orders have been shown to contain errors. [18828]

§ Mr. Burt
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 20 April 1995: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about deduction from earnings orders (DEOs) issued by the Child Support Agency. Since launch to the end of February 1995, the Agency has issued a total of 32,483 DEOs; 29,883 of which have been issued since April 1994. No information is currently collected on the number of DEO's subsequently withdrawn or found to contain errors. The Agency is, however, investigating ways of measuring the effectiveness and quality of DEO's issued. 280W I hope this is of help.

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many child support maintenance assessments have been made by the Child Support Agency, broken down by the amount per week of the assessment. [18826]

§ Mr. Burt
The administration of the Child Support Agency is the responsibility of the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne dated 20 April 1995: I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the number of assessments made by the Child Support Agency and the amount per week of those assessments. The table at Annex A shows the number of full maintenance assessments (FMA) and interim maintenance assessments (IMA) as at 11 March 1995, banded into weekly liability. I hope this is of help.

ANNEX A—Weekly maintenance for full/interim assessments where the Absent Parent is not receiving Income Support¹

£ FMA² IMA³

Total cases assessed 132,300 87,500

2.31–5.00 1,800 0

5.01–9.99 4,500 0

10.00–19.99 11,800 0

20.00–29.99 15,100 0

30.00–39.99 18,800 1,100

40.00–49.99 18,600 3,000

50.00–59.99 17,000 8,700

60.00–69.99 17,800 3,000

70.00–79.99 13,100 2,500

80.00–89.99 7,700 1,900

90.00–99.99 3,600 30,300

100.00–109.99 1,300 12,900

110.00–119.99 400 13,300

Over 120 800 10,800

¹ Excluding cases assessed at the minimum rate of £2.30.

² Includes Category 'B' IMAs (where information about the income of the partner, or other member of the family, of an AP or parent with care has not been provided to the CSO and it is information which could have been provided):

³ Excludes Category "B" IMAs

ANNEX A—Weekly maintenance for full/interim assessments where the Absent Parent is not receiving Income Support¹
£	FMA²	IMA³
Total cases assessed	132,300	87,500
2.31–5.00	1,800	0
5.01–9.99	4,500	0
10.00–19.99	11,800	0
20.00–29.99	15,100	0
30.00–39.99	18,800	1,100
40.00–49.99	18,600	3,000
50.00–59.99	17,000	8,700
60.00–69.99	17,800	3,000
70.00–79.99	13,100	2,500
80.00–89.99	7,700	1,900
90.00–99.99	3,600	30,300
100.00–109.99	1,300	12,900
110.00–119.99	400	13,300
Over 120	800	10,800
¹ Excluding cases assessed at the minimum rate of £2.30.
² Includes Category 'B' IMAs (where information about the income of the partner, or other member of the family, of an AP or parent with care has not been provided to the CSO and it is information which could have been provided):
³ Excludes Category "B" IMAs