Child Support Agency (Hansard, 2 February 1996)

§ 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 Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (1) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency operations. The trend changed with the introduction in late 1994, of a requirement to seek the PWC's authorisation to pursue maintenance. It increased awareness amongst PWCs that they did not have to co-operate with the Agency and led to an increase in the proportion of new cases seeking Good Cause. It is of note that whilst the number of cases where good cause has been turned down has gone up, the number accepted has remained fairly constant. Following the Social Security Select Committee's recommendation that a review of the Good Cause process should be conducted, the Government charged the Agency with carrying out 988W such a review. The report, to be published before the end of March 1996, will include detailed information about decision making by child support staff. I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (2) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the success rate of specialist tracing of absent parents by the Child Support Agency. In 1993/94 the success rate was 85%; in 1994/95 it was 66% and at the end of November 1995 the success rate was 63%. Although the success rate is diminishing the actual number of absents parents that have been traced is increasing. In 1993/94 28,240 cases resulted in a successful trace, in 1994/95 this increased to 49,632 and in the first eight months of 1995/96 the Agency has been successful in 35,084 cases. Since August 1994 to the end of November 1995 23,420 cases have been abandoned/withdrawn by the Agency. Information is not available for the period prior to August 1994. At the end of November 1995 there were 17,145 cases that remained outstanding. You may be interested to know that information on specialist tracing action is included in the Child Support Agency Statistical Information that is placed in the House of Commons Library every month. I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (3) I am replying to your parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security on the percentage of cases cleared by individual Child Support Agency centres. At the end of September 1995 159,041 cases had been cleared by the Agency. The percentage of these cases cleared by individual CSA centres during the first half of 1995/96 is shown in the table below for each of the categories required.

Per cent.
CSAC	(a) under 13 weeks	Clearances (b) between 13 and 26 weeks	(c) in over 26 weeks
Dudley	4.15	3.63	8.98
Hastings	5.41	4.06	8.76
Falkirk	3.35	2.52	7.56
Plymouth	4.41	3.84	10.38
Birkenhead	6.45	3.80	7.48
Belfast	3.93	3.75	7.55
Agency	27.70	21.60	50.71

Figures do not sum to 100 per cent due to rounding.

I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (4) I am replying to the Parliamentary Question requesting information on how the Child Support Agency performed against its performance targets in the first nine months of 1995/96. As December's information has not yet been published, the response covers the eighth months to the end of November. At that point, the Agency's overall performance continued to represent a significant improvement over both the first year's performance and the situation at the same stage in 1994/95. Details of performance against individual targets are as follows: "£300 million of maintenance to be collected, or arranged for direct payment from Absent Parent (AP) to Parent With Care (PWC), in 1995/96." This totalled £181.92 million for the year-to-date, with the total for the month continuing to increase. We are still on track to achieve this challenging target. 989W "90% of payments made to PWC to be made within 10 workings days of receipt from AP." These have been made within 10 working days in 97% of cases. November was the eight consecutive month in which the target was achieved. "To achieve rapid continuing improvement in accuracy, so that in at least 75% of cases checked during March 1996 the cash value will be for the correct cash amount." Maintenance assessments were accurate in 71% of cases checked during November. "Where a client is dissatisfied with a Child Support Officer's decision and requests a review, 50% to be cleared within 13 weeks; 80% within 26 weeks; and no more than 20% to be older than 26 weeks at 31 March 1996." —52% of second tier reviews were cleared within 13 weeks. —68% were cleared within 26 weeks. —23% were outstanding for more than 26 weeks. "60% of new maintenance applications to be cleared within 26 weeks, and as at 31 March 1996 no more than 10% of all maintenance applications received by the Agency to be over 52 weeks old." —The year-to-date figure at the end of November was 39%. —Applications awaiting assessment for over 52 weeks stood at 14%. "To manage the Agency's resources to deliver its Business Plan within the gross vote (cash) budget allocation." The forecast outturn to the end of March 1996 continued to be in line with the budget. I hope this is helpful for the moment, I will update the figures when the December information is published very shortly.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (5) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about staffing within the Child Support Agency. The details you have requested regarding employees working within the six Child Support Agency Centres and in the field are shown in the attached table. The Agency is still assessing the impact which the Public Expenditure Survey 1995 will have on the 1996/97 staffing complement. I hope this is helpful.

	Permanent staff	Temporary staff	Total
Birkenhead	773.5	13	786.5
Dudley	705.3	1	706.3
Hastings	714.5	48	762.5
Falkirk	721.9	4	725.9
Plymouth	722.5	67	789.5
Belfast CSAC¹	594	110	704
Field	1,910.1	255.34	2,165.44

1. Staff shown as whole time equivalents.

2. Temporary contract staff are staff employed either on a casual basis or for a fixed term of between one and five years.

¹Northern Ireland Civil Servants.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (6) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency maintenance. The total Maintenance Debt as of 30/11/95 was £793.9m. This includes the debt for both Full and Interim Maintenance Assessments and arrears that have been rescheduled for future payment. Around 65% (£516m) of the £793.9m is provisional debt as it relates to interim maintenance assessments. In a further 16% 990W (£130.3m) an agreement has been made with the absent parent for the maintenance to be paid either in instalments or at a future date; these cases are carefully monitored. Information on the proportion of Agency accounts currently in arrears and how many have not received a payment is not currently available. This information will be available from the Agency's Debt Management System which will be introduced during 1996/97. The average amount of debt on an Agency account is not currently available. The Financial Management System will provide this information from December 1995 when the number of cases with maintenance debt becomes available. When the information you require from the Debt Management and Financial Management System is available, I will consider including this data in the monthly statistics placed in the library. I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (7) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Deduction of Earnings orders (DEOs). A scan of the Child Support Computer System which took place in January 1996 showed that there are just under 40,000 DEOs currently in force on regular payment accounts. Information is not available on the number of DEOs that have been challenged in court, or the number of such challenges that have been successful. I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (8) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about absent parents who are self-employed. In August 1995 a computer scan of 5% of live cases on the Child Support Computer System showed that 3.9% of absent parents who have a full maintenance assessment were self-employed. I am unclear as to what is being referred to as "a dispute between the parents" and the Agency has no requirement to differentiate between the employed and self-employed until an assessment is calculated. Even if this phrase is taken to mean one or other parent has asked for a review or has appealed, we do not keep separate statistics on this basis. Records show that 5 category C interim maintenance assessments have been issued since April 1995. Finally, information is not held as to how many Category A and D interim maintenance assessments relate to self employed absent parents or the proportion of liability orders relating to self-employed absent parents. But in this last case, I can tell you that the great majority of liability orders relate to self-employed absent parents because the alternative of Deduction from Earnings Order would nearly always be appropriate for employees. I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (9) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about sections of the Child Support Agency Act 1991. Precise information on the number of time inspectors have been appointed under Section 15 of the Child Support Act 1991 can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost; this is a very rare occurrence. The Departmental Solicitors Office has confirmed that charges under Section 15(9) of the Act for non-cooperation with an inspector have been brought in one case. It is a matter for the police to bring proceedings under Section 50 of the Act. I have no record of any Agency employee who has been charged under this section. I hope this is helpful.

991W

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (10) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency maintenance. You asked about parents with care using the Agency collection service. Information is not available in the exact form you requested but it is hoped that the following may be of use to you. Figures on the attached table are based on a scan of the live cases on the Child Support Computer System which took place in November 1995. A breakdown of the proportions of each parent with care type using the collection service is not available. There are no precise figures available for these groups relating to a request for collection via the Agency being refused, but a refusal would be extremely rare. I hope this is helpful.

Parents with Care
	Number
Maintenance assessments
Total number of assessments	427,314
Number of parents with care on Income Support	347,337
Number of parents with care on Family Credit	49,582
Assessment, collection and enforcement service
Number of cases of all types where an account has been set up using the assessment, collection and enforcement service	257,842

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (11) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security on how much child support maintenance has been paid through the Child Support Agency. The table below gives a breakdown of maintenance paid through the CSA for each quarter, since information first became available

	Maintenance£Millions
1993–94
Q2	0.31
Q3	1.47
Q4	6.94
1994–95
Q1	9.09
Q2	16.61
Q3	19.39
Q4	30.67
1995–96
Q1	26.46
Q2	28.56

I hope this is helpful

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (12) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency review into the requirement to co-operate procedures. The Agency devised a detailed work programme to thoroughly examine all issues related to the requirement to co-operate procedures in order to address the concerns raised by the Social Security Select Committee. A number of special exercises were commissioned including the examination of client files, consultation with staff and consultation with external organisations. The Agency, with the aid of external researchers, is in the final stages of analysing the results of the various exercises and expects to publish a report before the end of March 1996. Throughout the 992W review the Agency liaised closely with all Departmental colleagues, including Benefit Agency staff who formed part of the working group established to take forward the review. This ensured a proper balance was maintained between protecting single parents and their children, and abuse of the Social Security benefit system. I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (13) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about DNA tests. The discounted DNA scheme was introduced in July 1995. Normally there are three separate tests involved for each case ie the parent with care, the alleged absent parent and the child. The total cost for discounted DNA testing is £426.92. This figure is inclusive of VAT and doctors fees. One of the advantages of the scheme was that it would effectively eliminate the need for cases of disputed paternity to go through the court system. Up to the end of November 1995 we have completed 904 discounted DNA tests; I am not aware that any of these cases have been referred for court action. I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (14) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency operations. You asked about absent parents (APs) maintenance and benefit status for 1995/96. The information is not available in exactly the form you requested but I hope the information contained within the attached table is helpful. The table does not show the number of APs with minimum assessments at 31/8/95, however 67,700 APs were paying between £0.01 and the current minimum amount of £2.35. Figures are based on a 5% scan of live cases on the Child Support Computer System on 31 August 1995. All figures relate to live fully assessed cases at that date.

Details of absent parents as at 31 August 1995
	Number
Absent parents on Income Support whose cases have been taken on by CSA	96,300
Absent parents on Income Support where the minimum amount (currently £2.35) is deducted	37,500
Absent parents not on Income Support paying between £0.01 and the minimum amount (currently £2.35)	30,200
Absent parents not on Income Support paying NIL	27,300

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (15) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the effect of the April policy changes on child maintenance assessments. In April 1995 an exercise took place to consider all live cases on the Child Support Computer System and re-assess where applicable. Of the live cases re-assessed automatically by computer 33,000 resulted in a reduced maintenance liability averaging £8.33; of the cases requiring clerical re-assessment a further 7,000 saw a reduction in maintenance liability, but no information is held regarding the average reduced maintenance liability. In addition, just under 4,500 absent parents have benefitted from either the award of allowances for property and capital settlements or from the award of an allowance for travel to work costs. Figures relating to the impact of the April policy changes on benefit savings for 1995/96 are not yet available. I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (16) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support maintenance. 993W The child maintenance requirement is a set amount based on the number of qualifying children which is the starting point of an assessment. An assessment is then made based on the full individual circumstances of both the absent parent and parent with care. Information on the number of assessments that fall below the child maintenance requirement is not available. I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (17) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking how many persons with care sent maintenance application forms by the Child Support Agency to date during 1995/96 were (a) Income Support claimants, (b) Family Credit claimants, (c) private clients. At the end of November 1995 the Agency had issued the following Maintenance Assessments Forms (MAFs) for each of the above categories:

(a) 155,442 MAFs were issued to Income Support claimants
(b) 43,424 MAFs were issued to Family Credit claimants
(c) 13,147 MAFs were issued to private clients

I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (18) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency applications. The factors that led to the current level of outstanding maintenance applications have been well documented, and include the combination of new legislation, new systems and new staff at the outset of the Child Support Agency. You asked when the Agency expects to reach a level of 200,000 outstanding applications. The Agency estimates that a normal head of work would be in the region of 200,000 to 250,000 cases in the process of maintenance assessment. The Agency currently has 392,000 cases at various stages in this process. I am unable to state categorically when we will reach a steady state of 200,000 to 250,000 cases, but we are progressing towards this. The Agency has not yet agreed with the Secretary of State the priorities and performance targets for 1996/97. I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (19) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about cases cleared by the Agency. You asked for a breakdown of cases cleared in the current financial year without a maintenance assessment. I have based the reply on the first 8 months of the financial year, the period ending 30 November 1995. During this period, out of 219,596 which were cleared, 130,228 cases were cleared without an assessment. As we have no business need to record a more specific reason for such clearances, I cannot provide a more detailed breakdown of these cases. I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Malcolm Wicks, dated 1 February 1996: (20) I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency paternity cases. At 30 November 1995 some 11,464 cases were outstanding in which paternity was disputed. There are a number of circumstances outside the control of the Agency which contribute to the delay in resolving the issue of paternity. The length of time taken to resolve a paternity dispute varies significantly with the complexity of the case, therefore no meaningful average can be given. You asked how many cases have been abandoned because of the inability to prove paternity. 994W If DNA testing proves that the alleged absent parent is not the father of the child, the Agency will re-open discussions with the parent with care and consider further appropriate action. If we think that there are reasonable grounds for an alleged absent parent to be judged the father of the child, even if he refuses DNA testing we will refer the case to a court for their judgement. If we are not satisfied there are reasonable grounds for paternity to be accepted by a court we will suspend further action, but such cases may be periodically reviewed. I hope this is helpful.