§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will give a breakdown of the compensation applications and awards made to Child Support Agency clients in(a) 1995–96 and (b) 1996–97. [5272]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyWe expect the Child Support Agency to provide an efficient and effective service to all its clients throughout the child support assessment process. We are looking for substantial and sustained operational improvements from the agency, in particular on getting more maintenance paid, reducing the backlog and improving customer service.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mrs. Faith Boardman. She will write to the hon. Member.
576WLetter from Faith Boardman to Mr. Archy Kirkwood, dated 21 July 1997:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency compensatory applications and awards. These are referred to as special payments.The table attached indicates the number of applications and awards made to customers during the requested periods, against the Agency's live and assessed caseload of over half-a-million.I hope this is helpful.
Child Support Agency live and assessed caseload 579,200 Total awards made Special payments applications made Number of cases Total amount paid 1995–96 1,013 186 £115,000 1996–97 2,177 983 £656,000
§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if she will list for each financial year since the establishment of the Child Support Agency(a) how much the agency has paid out in compensatory payments, (b) in how many case compensatory payments have been made, (c) the average amount paid out in compensatory payments, (d) in what proportion of cases dealt with by the CSA compensatory payments have been made and (e) the total number of maintenance assessments carried out by the CSA in each of these periods; [7213]
(2) if she will list for each financial year since the establishment of the Child Support Agency in how many instances the CSA has made compensatory payments between (a) £0 and £100, (b) £100 and £500, (c) £500 and £1,000 and £5,000 and (e) in excess of £5,000. [7212]
§ Mr. Bradley[holding answer 9 July 1997]: We expect the Child Support Agency to provide an efficient and effective service to all its clients throughout the child support assessment process. We are looking for substantial and sustained operational improvements from the agency, in particular on getting more maintenance paid, reducing the backlong and improving customer service.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mrs Faith Boardman. She will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Faith Boardman to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 21 July 1997:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency compensatory payments.The tables attached provide all the available information regarding compensatory payments. A breakdown of payments into monetary values is not available for 1994/95 or 1995/96 and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.I hope this is helpful.
577W
Child Support Agency compensatory payments—miscellaneous 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Amount paid £100 £10,200 £115,000 £656,000 Number of payments made 1 77 186 983 Average amount £100 £133 £779 £667
Child Support Agency compensatory payments—miscellaneous 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Percentage proportion of compensatory payments to total clearances 0.0003 0.01 0.06 0.28 Number of maintenance assessments 205,000 251,000 128,000 129,000
Child Support Agency compensatory payments—payments breakdown Amount 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 £0–99.99 — Not available 257 £100–499.99 1 Not available 334 £500–999.99 — Not available 180 £1,000+ — Not available 212 Total 1 77 186 983