HC Deb 07 February 1995 vol 254 cc210-3W
Dr. Godman

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many cases of mothers with care successfully claiming as a good cause not to co-operate with the Child Support Agency's request about an absent father in(a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole, were based upon (i) emotional distress, (ii) mental illness or (iii) welfare of the child in the period April 1993 to March 1994;

(2) What is his estimate of the number of mothers with care in (a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole who had their claim of a risk of violence if they revealed the father's name accepted by the Child Support Agency;

(3) how many of the cases in which the Child Support Agency accepted that parent had good cause not to co-operate to the latest available date involved parents with care in (a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole;

(4) how many of the requirements to co-operate cases between April 1993 and March 1994 involved parents with care in (a)Scotland and (b)the United Kingdom as a whole;

(5) how many parents with care in (a)Scotland and (b)the United Kingdom as a whole gave authorisation or information concerning absent parents when issued with a formal requirement to co-operate order between April 1993 and March 1994;

(6) how many reduced benefit directives were referred by the Child Support Agency to the Benefits agency in (a)Scotland and (b)the United Kingdom as a whole between April 1993 and March 1994.

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 Dr. Norman A. Godman, dated 6 February 1995

I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of state for Social Security about the requirements to co-operate.

The information is not available in the format requested. Figures are only available for Great Britain as the Agency does not collect separate statistics for Scotland, and has no responsibility for the UK as a whole. Northern Ireland has a separate Child Support Agency, which is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Between April 1993 and March 1994, the requirement to co-operate was considered in 64,800 cases. After investigation, good cause not to co-operate was accepted in 31,700 cases. Of these 8,400 were cases where the parent with care was unable to name the parent of the child; 15,800 were cases where there was a risk of violence and 7,500 were cases where other reasons such as emotional distress, emntal illness or concern for the welfare of the child were accepted. After interview, 14,200 parents with care subsequently provided their authorisation or the necessary information. Good cause not to co-operate was not accepted in 18,900 cases.

Six hundred and twenty-seven benefit directions were issued in this period.

Between April 1993 and November 1994, the Agency had investigated 124,300 cases, of which good cause not to co-operate was accepted in 60,000.

Dr. Godman

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) in how many cases of absent parents in(a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole the Benefits Agency made deductions from income support at the behest of the Child Support Agency in the period April 1993 to March 1994;

(2) how many absent parents assessed by the Child Support Agency between April 1993 and March 1994 in (a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom were in receipt of income support;

(3) how many assessments made by the Child Support Agency in (a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole in the period April 1993 to March 1994 resulted in the absent parents being assessed as being unable to pay more than the minimum contribution of £2.30.

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 Dr. Norman A. Godman, dated 7 February 1995

I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the number of absent parents assessed by the Child Support Agency during 1993/94 who were in receipt of Income Support (IS) and the number of absent parents who were assessed as only being able to pay the minimum contribution of £2.30.

Information is only available for Great Britain as the Agency does not collect separate statistics for Scotland and has no responsibility for the UK as a whole.

From launch to March 1994, a total of 40,450 absent parents (AP) receiving IS were assessed for child maintenance.

Information is not available for the total number of APs who were assessed, during 1993/94, as being unable to pay more than the minimum contribution of £2.30, or on the total number of APs who had deductions made from IS.

I hope that this is of help.

Dr. Godman

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many parents with care in(a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom have relinquished income support and are now dependent on maintenance payments;

(2) what is his estimate of the number of parents with care in (a) Scotland and (b) the rest of the United Kingdom who relinquished income support in the period April 1993 to March 1994 and who are now in receipt of family credit and maintenance.

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 Dr. Norman A. Godman, dated 7 February 1995

I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the number of parents with care who no longer qualify for Income Support and now receive Family Credit as a result of receiving maintenance assessed by the Child Support Agency.

Since launch, 12,000 parents with care (PWC) ceased to receive Income Support (IS) because child maintenance payments, assessed by the CSA, led to their income exceeding their entitlement to IS. It should be noted that child maintenance may not have been the only income received by the PWC in these cases. Other income such as part time earnings, Child Benefit and One Parent Benefit, which the PWC would continue to receive in addition to any child maintenance payments, may have contributed to the gross amount of weekly income exceeding entitlement IS.

No information is presently available on how many PWCs are presently receiving Family Credit and child maintenance following an assessment by the Agency.

I hope that this is of help.

Dr. Godman

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in how many cases in which the mother with care was unable to name the father involved women living in(a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole.

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 Dr. Norman A. Godman, dated 7 February 1995

I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about parents with care who were unable to name the absent parent.

My letter to you in reply to PQ 789 sets out the position for the period April 1993 to March 1994.

Since April 1994, these cases are no longer considered under the requirement to cooperate provisions. This is because it is clear that a parent with care who cannot name the absent parent is not refusing to co-operate, but in fact is unable to co-operate. The information you request is therefore no longer collected.

Dr. Godman

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many maintenance application forms issued in the period April 1993 to March 1994 were sent to parents with care in(a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole; and of these how many were given to parents with care who (i) were not in receipt of any social security benefits, (ii) parents with care in receipt of family credit, (iii) in receipt of disability working allowance and (iv) in receipt of income support;

(2) how many maintenance application forms issued in the period April 1993 to March 1994 in Scotland were sent to parents with care who were (a) new applicants for income support or (b) repeat applicants for income support.

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 Dr. Norman A. Godman, dated 7 February 1995

I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of state for Social Security about the number of maintenance application forms issued by the Child Support Agency during 1993/94.

Information is only available for Great Britain as the Agency does not collect separate statistics for Scotland and has no responsibility for the UK as a whole.

The agency issued 858,000 maintenance assessment forms (MAF) between April 1993 and March 1994. 29,650 of the forms issued were sent to parents with care (PWC) who were not receiving benefit; 223,800 MAFS were sent to PWCs receiving Family Credit (FC) and Disability Working Allowance (DWA). It is not possible to separately identify recipients of FC and DWA from within this group.

A further 534,000 MAFs were sent to recipients of Income Support (IS). Information on how many of those forms were sent following new or repeat applications for IS is not available.

I hope that this is of help.