§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security for what reasons the Government decided to increase the minimum payment under the Child Support Act 1991 from £2.35 to £4.80; what additional savings he expects to accrue to the budgets for each of the benefits administered by his Department as a result of this policy change; and what are the purposes to which these savings will be applied. [6185]
§ Mr. Andrew MitchellThe proposed change will reinforce a key principle of the Child Support Act 1991 that parents are responsible for providing financial support for their children. Absent parents who are sick or disabled, or who have responsibility for children in their new family, will continue to be exempt from this payment.
Parents with care, and children, will benefit. Those parents receiving income support will build up a higher entitlement to the child maintenance bonus when it is introduced in April 1997 and others in work will gain straight away from the increased payment.
The long-term benefit savings, arising from reduced expenditure on income-related benefits paid to parents with care, are expected to be £15 million. Most of the savings will be in respect of income support.
The proposal forms part of the measures announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 29 November which will in total save around £1 billion in the long term and will help contain real annual growth in social security spending to 1.3 per cent. between 1996–97 and 1998–99.
§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many cases of(a) fraud and (b) alleged fraud, have arisen from the application of the Child Support Act 1991 to absent fathers who are self-employed. [7174]
§ Mr. MitchellIt is not a business requirement of the Child Support Agency to keep statistics centrally on allegations to fraud. Any such allegation in respect of a162W self-employed absent parent is referred to the Contributions Agency for investigation.