§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the number of outstanding second-tier reviews of child support cases carried out under section 18 of the Child Support Act 1991; and what steps he has taken to clear the backlog.
§ 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. Donald Dewar, dated 8 March 1995:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the number of outstanding requests for reviews to be carried out under Section 18 of the Child Support Act.At the end of January 1995, 8,099 such requests were outstanding. compared to 10,766 outstanding at the end of July 1994. This reduction reflects the increased emphasis which has been given to this type of work over recent months. I anticipate that the backlog will be cleared by 31 March 1995.
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what amount of new maintenance has been collected by the Child Support Agency in each year of its operation to the latest available date.
§ 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. Donald Dewar, dated 8 March 1995:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the new maintenance collected by the Child Support Agency.Figures for the whole of 1993/94 and from April 1994 to the end of January 1995 are shown in the table. I have included maintenance paid direct by absent parents (APs) to parents with care (PWCs) in income support (IS) cases. However, I have not included maintenance paid direct between parents who do not use the Agency's collection service in family credit (FC) cases, or cases where benefit is not in payment. This is because your Question seems to be directed specifically at those areas in which the Agency is most closely involved.
221W
£ million 1993–94 1994–951 Paid direct by Absent Parents to Parents with Care on IS 1 0 Paid through Agency collection service in IS. FC and DWA cases and offsets benefit spending2 10 32
£ million 1993–94 1994–951 Paid through Agency collection service in IS, FC and DWA cases in excess of benefit paid, and to non benefit cases3 3 19 Total 415 62 1 1994–95 figures cover April 1994 to January 1995. 2 Maintenance paid through the Agency collection service that offsets benefit spending and therefore leads to benefit savings. 3Maintenance paid through the Agency collection service that is passed on to parents with care. 4Includes a small element relating to PWCs who used the collection service and were receiving either FC; disability working allowance (DWA), or who were not receiving benefit.
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total number of(a) cases take on by the Child Support Agency since April 1993, (b) interim maintenance assessments made, (c) full maintenance assessments made, (d) cases cleared without an assessment being made, (e) cases deferred because an effective application has not been made by an income support claimant, (f) outstanding case involving a paternity dispute and (g) other outstanding cases awaiting assessment.
§ 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. Donald Dewar, dated 8 March 1995:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the number of cases taken on and assessment made by the Child Support Agency.Between April 1993 and the end of January 1995, the Agency issued 1,190,200 maintenance application forms (on some forms more than one absent parent may he involved); completed 129,000 interim maintenance assessments and 299,100 full maintenance assessments. 403,000 cases were cleared without an assessment being made.As at the end of January 1995, 432,000 cases were on hand awaiting a maintenance assessment, including 6,800 in which paternity was being disputed. Given the volume of cases dealt with by the Agency we would expect to have around 250,000 cases on hand at any one time.You also ask about cases deferred because an effective application had not been made by a client receiving income support. 1 have taken this to refer to those cases deterred as a one off exercise as part of the measures announced on 20 December 1994. This exercise was only completed last week so the full details will not he available until later this month; but by the end of January, there were 2,700 cases where IS applications had been deferred.
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many maintenance enquiry forms have been issued to absent parents since the Child Support Agency commenced operation in April 1993;
(2) how many maintenance application forms have been issued since the Child Support Agency commenced operation in April 1993; and what proportion have been issued to parents not already receiving maintenance.
§ 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.
222WLetter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Donald Dewar, dated 8 March 1995:
I am replying to recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security abut the number of maintenance enquiry forms (MEFs) and maintenance application forms (MAFs) that have been issued by the Child Support Agency.From April 1993 to the end of January 1995, 692,900 MEFs were issued to absent parents.In the same period 1,190,200 MAFs were issued, of which we estimate that 77 per cent. were issued to parents not already receiving maintenance.
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many requests for a review of a child support assessment have been made, and what proportion of these has resulted in an application for an appeal to a child support appeal tribunal.
§ 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. Donald Dewar, dated 8 March 1995:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about reviews and appeals.From April 1993 to the end of January 1995 the Child Support Agency had received 47,100 requests for review under Section 18 of the Child Support Act.In the same period 6,800 applications for appeal were made. As not all applications for appeal arise from Section 18 reviews, it is not appropriate to express this figure as a proportion of the total number of Section 18 reviews requested.
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of outstanding child maintenance applications are over(a) 13 weeks, (b) 26 weeks and (c) 52 weeks old.
§ 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. Donald Dewar, dated 8 March 1995:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of state for Social Security about the proportion of outstanding child maintenance applications that are over 13, 26 and 52 weeks old.The table shows the proportion of cases within these age bands as a percentage of the caseload as at the end of January 1995.
Percentage of caseload Cases over 13 weeks old 83 Cases over 26 weeks old 69 Cases over 52 weeks old 48 A significant number of the cases over 26 weeks old will he deferred as part of the measures announced on 20 December 1994.
§ Mr. DenhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the total payments being made to the Child Support Agency by absent parents in respect of children whose parents with care were in receipt of relevant state benefits before April 1993 and whose assessment has been completed by the Child Support Agency; and what is the total number of these cases.