Child Support Agency (Hansard, 23 January 1996)

§ 19. Mr. Win Griffiths
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many cases are being dealt with by the CSA. [8808]

§ Mr. Andrew Mitchell
The Child Support Agency is currently working on 833,000 cases.

21. Mr. William O'Brien
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proposals he has to review the current operation of the Child Support Agency; and if he will make a statement. [8811]

§ Mr. Mitchell
The performance of the Child Support Agency is continually reviewed against agreed targets.

Mr. O'Brien
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the co-operation of the Child Support Agency with the parliamentary commissioner in his investigation into the working of the agency. [9541]

§ 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 Ann Chant to Mr. William O'Brien, dated 22 January 1996: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency co-operation with the Parliamentary Commissioner. All Agencies of the Department of Social Security (DSS) liaise with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (PCA) through the Department's DSS PCA Focal Point. The Child Support Agency has a dedicated PCA Unit which deals with all complaints and correspondence with the PCA. This PCA Unit works closely with colleagues at the DSS PCA Focal Point. In addition to the PCA Select Committee's strict and short deadlines for Departments to respond to new complaints referred by the PCA, the DSS is the only Department to have additional agreed 216W deadlines with the PCA for the other stages of his investigation process. Since its inception the Child Support Agency has met all the deadlines on all the cases referred to it. The Agency (and the Department) has a very clear policy in its dealings with the PCA: if mistakes have been made, this is explained clearly and objectively to the PCA and appropriate apologies given. The PCA has previously commented to the PCA Select Committee that he has very good liaison with the DSS and singled out the work of the Department, through the offices of the Focal Point, for their excellent work. I hope this is helpful.

§ Ms Lynne
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 11 January,Official Report, column 324, on computer services, on what basis the Child Support Agency's operational accounting system records the amount of down time; what factors led him to give information for only 17 weeks; what has been the amount of down time up to the present for each week since 7 June 1994; and what procedures were in place to carry out the tasks carried out by the operational accounting system before 7 June 1994. [10357]

§ Mr. Mitchell
I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave on 11 January 1995,Official Report, column 324.
Service availability of the Child Support Agency's operational accounting system is recorded and reported on a weekly basis.
Information was given for the whole of the period since the system went live. The answer states that there has been 100 per cent. availability except for the 17 weeks tabulated. The table shows the availability in those 17 weeks.
Before 7 June 1994, the CSA obtained management information either clerically, or by special scans of the child support computer system database.