HC Deb 11 March 1997 vol 292 cc193-4W
Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the total payments to mothers by absent fathers in(a) the last full year before the coming into operation of the Child Support Agency and (b) the most recent year for which figures are available. [18470]

Mr. Andrew Mitchell

In 1992–93, the last full year before the Child Support Agency came into operation, maintenance worth around £2201 million was collected to offset payments of income support. It is not possible to identify how much of this maintenance was paid in respect of children as opposed to spouses.

During 1995–96, the last full year for which figures are available for the Child Support Agency, the agency collected or arranged over £300 million in child maintenance alone. It is on course to collect or arrange child maintenance of over £380 million in the current financial year.

Note: 1If parents come to a mutually acceptable arrangement over child maintenance, and prescribed social security benefits are not being claimed, the Child Support Agency will not be involved. No estimate is available of the amounts of maintenance involved.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the cost of the court system in respect of child support in the last full year before the coming into operation of the Child Support Agency. [18468]

Mr. Mitchell

The latest available figures prior to the establishment of the Child Support Agency are for the period 1989–90 where the direct administrative costs of the court system attributable to child support maintenance were estimated to be around £20 million. Detailed information is not available separately on legal aid costs for child and spousal maintenance proceedings in the High Court and county courts but the annual gross cost of legal aid in matrimonial proceedings was around £80 million in 1989–90.