§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what was the total amount of unpaid assessed maintenance owing to the Child Support Agency at 31 March; [29347]
(2) what was the average level of arrears for absent parents at 31 March who had received (a) full maintenance assessments and (b) interim maintenance assessments. [29348]
§ Mr. Andrew MitchellAdministration 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. Frank Field, dated 15 May 1996:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about unpaid assessed maintenance.
The total Maintenance Debt as at 31 March 1996 was £895.6m. This includes the debt for both Full Maintenance Assessments estimated at 32% (£286.6m) and Interim Maintenance Assessments estimated at 68% (£609m).
513WIt should be made clear that this is not debt due to the Child Support Agency. Rather it is debt due from absent parents to parents with care some of which will be re-directed to the Secretary of State for Social Security to re-imburse benefit payments previously paid to parents with care.
The average level of arrears in Full Maintenance Assessment cases is not available, nor is it available in Interim Maintenance Assessment cases. This information will be available from the Agency's Debt Management System which will be introduced later this year.
I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications the Child Support Agency has received for property settlements to be taken into account when calculating maintenance payments; and in how many cases maintenance payments have been reduced to take account of property settlements. [29024]
§ Mr. MitchellThe 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. Hugh Bayley, dated 15 May 1996:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency maintenance payments.
The Agency received 11,388 applications in response to mailshots from March 1995, which notified absent parents about property/capital settlements. Of the cases live on the Child Support Computer System prior to April 1995, 3,113 cases have been awarded an allowance in respect of property and capital settlements.
New cases since April 1995, which include consideration of property and capital settlements as part of the maintenance assessment process, have to date resulted in 1,928 successful applications.
I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total administrative cost of running the Child Support Agency in 1995–96; and what was the whole-time equivalent number of staff employed by the agency at(a) the start and (b) the end of that year. [29023]
§ Mr. MitchellAdministration 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. Hugh Bayley, dated 15 May 1996:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency costs and staffing.
The running costs of the Agency for 1995/96 are not yet finalised. The most up to date figure is £197m (subject to end of year adjustment).
The number of whole time equivalent staff employed by the Agency at the start of financial year 1995–96 was 5965.4. The number of whole time equivalent staff employed by the Agency at 31 March 1996 was 6660.0.
I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many(a) incoming and (b) outgoing items of correspondence and telephone calls were recorded by the Child Support Agency in 1995–96. [29021]
§ Mr. MitchellAdministration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
514WLetter from Miss Ann Chant to Mr. Hugh Bayley, dated 15 May 1996:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency correspondence and telephone calls.
No records are kept of the numbers of either incoming or outgoing items of post. The post handled by the Agency contains not just items of correspondence from clients, but general administration items, internal post and files etc. There is no business need for the Agency to differentiate between the types of post received or sent, nor is there a need to record exact figures.
Similarly, the Agency does not maintain records at all its business locations of every incoming and outgoing telephone call (which would include internal and Departmental calls). Procedures are in place to try to ensure that all calls from the public are dealt with effectively, and all Child Support Agency Centres (CSACs) have Client Helplines that record details of all case-specific calls on the Child Support Computer System. Any telephone enquiry which requires action by another section is passed on with a written referral.
Information is available to show how many calls from the public were answered by the Client Help Line sections in each CSAC and the National Enquiry Line, and is shown on the table attached. This also shows the number of occasions where these sections made calls back to the public to answer the query raised.
I hope this is helpful.
Telephone calls answered and made by the client help line and national enquiry line for the period April 1995 to March 1996 Number Incoming calls 1,799,686 Call back to the public 41,962