Child Support Agency (Hansard, 24 November 1995)

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to privatise sections of the Child Support Agency; and if he will make a statement. [634]

§ Mr. Andrew Mitchell
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 Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 23 November 1995: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about privatisation of parts of the Child Support Agency. The Agency is currently undertaking a study into the feasibility of having incoming mail opened and sorted during night time hours by Royal Mail. Evaluation of the feasibility study will enable the Agency to determine whether there are significant operational advantages in placing a contract for the delivery of this service in the longer term. 360W A pilot exercise is running at Falkirk until 31 March 1996. After the exercise, decisions will be taken on whether to contract out the service at Falkirk and whether to extend the operation to other Child Support Agency Centres. On a wider basis, the services provided by the Child Support Agency will be considered as part of a formal evaluation of the Agency, as is required of all Next Steps Agencies. This is due to be completed by March 1998 and it will include the consideration of all possible options for the best means of delivering the services currently provided by the Agency.

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give a breakdown of child support arrears, indicating the initial payment period, and the number of cases with each level of arrears. [635]

§ Mr. Mitchell
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 Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 23 November 1995: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support arrears. Although information on the number of cases with arrears is available, a breakdown of the amount of arrears in each case could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Information on the proportion of arrears that relate to the initial payment period (IPP) is not available. Once IPP maintenance has been rescheduled as arrears it cannot be separately identified. At 15 September 1995, there were 161,309 cases with arrears. Of these, 89,768 had made at least one payment in the previous 13 weeks, and in the remaining 71,541, no payments had been made. At the end of September the total maintenance owed to the Agency was £738m. Around 65% of this (£480m) is provisional debt as it relates to interim maintenance assessments. A further 13% (£100m) relates to cases where an agreement has been made with the absent parent as to how and when the maintenance will be paid in the future; these agreements are carefully monitored. It is not possible to say how much of the remaining £158m relates to the initial payment period. I hope this is helpful.

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) in how many cases he has become aware that a Child Support Agency client is a potential suicide risk; and if he will give a month-by-month breakdown for each centre; [636]
(2) what procedures are applied when he becomes aware that a client of the Child Support Agency is a potential suicide risk. [637]

§ Mr. Mitchell
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 Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 23 November 1995:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency's approach to cases where a client "is a suicide risk".I am sorry that it is not possible to provide an answer to your Questions in. the form you have asked, but I will try to address what I think are your main concerns.Like many other organisations, this Agency is responsible for administering legal and financial responsibilities which are prescribed in legislation, and which may have to be enforced—not least to protect the rights of third parties. Because of the basic nature of our work, we often have to enter people's lives with information that may well add to existing emotional and financial problems.361WAll staff, particularly those engaged on debt management work, are well trained to deal sensitively with all clients, and to have due regard for the fact some people—whether they are absent parents or parents with care—may well become extremely distressed and even threaten to harm themselves. If they have serious concerns about a particular client, then, following the sort of procedures adopted by organisations with comparable responsibilities, they refer it to a senior, more experienced, manager for their consideration. For example, if a non-compliant absent parent is apparently getting seriously distressed by impending court action, they may check to make doubly sure that all other possibilities have been exhausted, and suspend action on the case for a limited period while this is done. They will decide on how to proceed with all such cases and will control and monitor further action on them.That manager has no discretion to vary the legally-due amount of maintenance, but they can negotiate the rate of arrears repayments if this offers a possible solution. When managers act in this special role they are not counsellors, nor do they deal solely with cases where there is a suggestion that a client may have threatened to harm themselves: they are simply taking on additional management responsibilities. They act in a supportive manner, but within the framework of ensuring that child maintenance is paid at the required levels to those to whom it is due.I hope this information is helpful to you.