Child Support Agency (Hansard, 15 October 1996)

§ Mr. Frank Field
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he is taking to reduce the level of unpaid maintenance as assessed by the Child Support Agency. [40056]

§ 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.
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Letter from Ann Chant to Mr. Frank Field, dated 14 October 1996: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency maintenance assessments. The Agency is currently in the process of implementing a number of initiatives to further improve the collection of legally due maintenance. A Debt Management System (DMS) has been trialled in our Plymouth Centre and will be rolled out nationally between January 1997 to March 1997. This will enable the Agency to better identify accounts which fall into arrears and take positive action to progress these cases. The Agency is also enhancing the Child Support Computer System and introducing procedural modifications to help improve compliance. Various payment methods are used to help minimise debt. The use of deduction of earnings orders (DEOs) where necessary, has proved a very effective method. To further improve the effectiveness of DEOs the Agency has streamlined its procedures to ensure that payment of maintenance starts as soon as possible. Where a DEO is not appropriate the Agency considers enforcement action such as obtaining a liability order. Also, since May 1996 the Agency has been able to enter debts in the County Court Register of Judgements. This is particularly useful with self-employed absent parents who do not pay their legally due maintenance. It is a powerful incentive to avoid credit blacklisting. The Agency is also looking at ways of further improving compliance at an early stage by encouraging the use of other payment methods such as direct debit. Finally, I would like to add that reduction of the outstanding maintenance debt is a high priority for the Agency. I hope this is helpful.

§ Mr. Field
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many cases deferred by the Child Support Agency following the announcement of 20 December 1994(a) have been taken on by the agency and (b) have yet to be taken on. [40059]

§ 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. Frank Field, dated 14 October 1996: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency cases where take on was deferred in December 1994. The Agency recommenced take on of these cases in November 1995, in line with the agreement made with the Secretary of State to recommence take on by December 1995. Up to 31 August 1996, 4,845 cases had been taken on by the Agency. It is not possible to give an exact figure for the number of cases still outstanding. To obtain this a clerical examination of all the deferred cases would have to be made to find those appropriate for action and this would incur disproportionate cost. It is estimated that the number outstanding at 30 June 1996 has reduced to around 190,000 cases. This reduction is due to a number of reasons. The recommencement of take on mentioned above; also, in some cases where Income Support has ceased and the parent with care has made a fresh application for benefit, the Agency will have become involved and these cases will have been taken on; in other cases the parent with care will have requested that the Agency take on the case and this will have been done; finally, some clients will no longer be claiming Income Support. I hope this is helpful.

§ Mr. Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the number and percentage of women, since the establishment of the Child Support854W Agency, whose cases have been examined by the Child Support Agency who (a) have not named the father, (b) are accepted by the agency as not knowing the name of the father and (c) claim not to know the name of the father but whose claim has been rejected by the Child Support Agency. [40141]

§ 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. Harry Cohen, dated 14 October 1996: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency cases. The details that you have requested are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost; there are a number of reasons for this: Firstly, the Agency does not differentiate absent parents and parents with care by gender; by far the vast majority of parents with care are women, but within those cases where the parent with care has failed to identify the person liable to pay maintenance, there is a small number where the parent with care is male. Also, when dealing with parents with care and collecting details of absent parents, the Agency encounters very different circumstances and goes through different stages for different cases. The issue of naming the absent parent, and the question of whether the parent with care knows the name of the absent parent are factors that contribute to this process; however, the Agency does not record statistical information in every case on these factors separately. From the nearest available information in this area, I can tell you that of over 1.3 million cases cleared by the Agency since its launch in April 1993, the number of cases where the failure to name the absent parent, initially at least, has been an issue is estimated to be in the region of 180,000. I hope this is helpful.