Child Support Agency (Hansard, 30 July 1997)

§ Mrs. Ballard
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many parents with care of children currently have benefit reductions made under the Child Support Act regulations concerning penalties for failure to co-operate with the CSA; and what has been the total amount of the benefit not paid for this reason in 1997 to date. [10664]

§ Mr. Keith Bradley
We think it right that lone mothers should co-operate wherever possible in requesting maintenance for their children from the father.
The latest available information is from August 1996, which shows that around 16,000 parents with care in receipt of income support were subject to a benefit reduction for failure to co-operate with the Child Support Agency without good reason. It is not yet possible to assess the total amount of benefit withheld since April this year but, over 1997–98 as a whole, it is estimated that the value of reduced benefit directions in income support will be around £15 million

§ Mr. Gibb
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much extra the Child Support Agency is budgeting to spend on its telephone operations in 1997–98. [7559]

§ Mr. Bradley
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 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.
373W
Letter from Faith Boardman to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 29 July 1997 I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency budget for telephone operations during 1997–98. At the present time access to the Agency can be made by means of the National Enquiry Line, Client Helplines, or by direct dial to Child Support Officers in the Child Support Agency Centres and associated Field Offices. The National Enquiry Line occupies a central location and is available to anyone who has a general enquiry about the Agency. The Agency has a target for answering general enquiries under its Charter Standards: we aim to answer enquiries within 20 seconds during normal working hours. Performance against this standard was 64 per cent. during 1996–97. A Client Helpline is available in each of the six Centres to deal with clients' case specific enquiries. The Agency has had no target which covers this area, but it is clear that this is an area where the service offered by the Agency has not fully met its customers needs and we are currently looking at the definition of the targets. I am committed to improving this and plans are in place to improve the service. In 1996–97 the Agency spent £2.2 million on running costs for its telephone system; it is anticipated that £2.7 million will be spent in 1997–98. Overall, the Agency focus is on providing a more efficient and accessible telephone service for clients making best use of its existing resources. The Agency plans to employ staff to work a wider more flexible range of working patterns over six days a week. This will provide more opportunities for customers to contact the Agency and vice versa, and will enable the Agency to deliver a better standard of customer service through greater use of the telephone. The Agency has also recently initiated an Early Positive Customer Contact project which will increase the use of the telephone by Agency staff at an early stage in our dealings with customers. The aim is that much more of our business will be conducted over the telephone rather than by correspondence, giving customers more opportunity to raise any issues or concerns earlier than at present. I am very conscious that there are still far too many justified complaints about the standards of basic customer contact and the service we provide. Over the next few years, I am committed to bringing high quality levels of performance to every part of our operation as a matter of routine, thereby reducing the number of complaints received and enhancing the public perception of the Agency. I hope this is helpful.