Child Support Agency (Hansard, 28 April 1998)

§ Mr. Keith Bradley

All children are entitled to the financial and emotional support of both their parents wherever they live. It is not right that so many absent fathers should seek to avoid paying the maintenance which their children are due. An extra £15 million is being invested in the Child Support Agency this year and next, specifically aimed at increasing the amounts of maintenance which are paid.

The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mrs. Faith Boardman. She will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Mrs. Faith Boardman to Mr. Archy Kirkwood, dated 27 April 1998:

I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about Child Support Agency debt.I am not able to provide all of the information in the precise format that you have requested, but have provided as much as is available.104WFor accounting purposes, the Agency regards amounts outstanding under full maintenance assessments as the amount of maintenance debt to be pursued. The outstanding full maintenance assessment debt at 31 March 1998 was approximately £695,726,778.The total number of cases with final maintenance assessment debt at 31 March 1998, was 294,745. Information is not available on the average age of debts or the number of cases where the Agency has rescheduled debts: re-scheduled debts are those where the Agency has negotiated an agreement with the absent parent to repay arrears by instalments. The amount of debt re-scheduled (included in the above) at 31 March 1998 was £328,214,264. This amount relates to 197,137 cases and equates to 47 per cent. of the debt and 66 per cent. of the cases.During 1997/98, the number of staff years spent on maintenance collection was 1850 at a total cost of approximately £42 million. 613 of those staff years were spent working directly on debt management, enforcement and tracing (in connection with debt recovery).Where arrears of maintenance exist, the Agency contacts the absent parent to arrange payment. The imposition of a deduction from earnings order is considered when the absent parent defaults on an agreement or refuses to come to an agreement. This step is taken as a last resort and every effort is made to secure the compliance of the absent parent before a deduction from earnings order is issued. During 1997/8 the Agency issued over 50,000 deduction from earnings orders.If all other voluntary methods have failed, and if a deduction from earnings order is not a possibility, then a liability order is applied for. The Agency's intention in such cases is to secure maintenance—it is hoped that the threat of such action will be enough to ensure compliance.Throughout the debt management and enforcement process, absent parents are given every opportunity to make a voluntary arrangement to pay off their child maintenance debt. The majority do agree to make an arrangement and only in a very small minority of cases is legal action actually taken.During 1997/8, the number of cases that were referred to Agency enforcement teams for litigation action was 17,833. The number of liability orders applied for was 2,498 and the number granted was 1,353.The Agency looks to use any and all enforcement methods legally available but experiences the same difficulties as other litigants in enforcing a civil debt. During 1997/8 we have been successful in registering debt by County Court Judgment in 522 cases. Where all other action has failed, the Agency has pursued cases for prosecution; between October 1997 and March 1998 a total of 15 suspended custodial sentences were imposed.The Agency measures its performance in securing maintenance against the target set by the Secretary of State; the target during 1997/8 was for £500 million of child maintenance to be collected or arranged for direct payment from the absent parent to the parent with care. The total achieved was approximately £547 million—the portion that was collected by the Agency was £344 million.I hope this is helpful.