§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in what proportion of child support appeals one of the parties has requested an oral hearing;760W how often one or both parties has attended; and in what proportion of cases a full decision has been requested in each of the last three years. [30057]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe operation of the appeals system is a matter for the Independent Tribunal Service (ITS).
The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available from the ITS is as follows.
From December 1996 to December 1997 a total of 8,434 Child Support appeals were received and there were 5,949 requests for oral hearings. Current year-to-date figures show that 85 per cent. of Child Support appeals are heard orally and 15 per cent. are heard on papers, although this latter percentage has increased as the year has progressed.
During the period December 1996 to December 1997 a total of 8,569 Child Support appeals went to hearing, and in 818 (10 per cent.) of those cases a full decision was subsequently requested by one or other of the parties.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much child support maintenance estimated in 1996–97 as not offsetting benefits savings was received by(a) family credit claimants and (b) private clients. [30055]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
Regular payments of child maintenance can transform the lives of lone mothers and their children, providing a stable income which can help them off Income Support and into work. In 1996/97, an estimated £110 million was paid to family credit claimants which did not offset their benefit entitlement.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of appeals to child support appeal tribunals are made by(a) absent parents and (b) parents with care; what proportion are referrals by (i) child support officers and (ii) the Secretary of State; and what proportion of appeals to child support commissioners are made by (1) absent parents, (2) persons with care and (3) the child support officer. [30059]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe information is not available.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many persons with care have left income support for employment as a result of receiving a Child Support Agency assessment in each year for which figures are available. [30132]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is that between April and December 1997, 2,897 parents with care made a successful claim for the child maintenance bonus when they left Income Support for work.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what research she is undertaking on the effect of a reduced benefit direction on children in the family since the increase in the benefit penalty in October 1996. [30139]
761W
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe Department is continually monitoring and evaluating reduced benefit directions which apply only where a parent with care has failed to co-operate with the Child Support Agency without good cause. Although the Department has not conducted any research into the effect of the reduced benefit direction since October 1996, following a recommendation of the Social Security Select Committee, the Child Support Agency undertook detailed research on the requirement to co-operate provisions and the results were published in April 1996 in "The Requirement to Co-operate: A Report on the Operation of the "Good Cause" Provisions. Department of Social Security in-house report 14".
We are looking closely at all aspects of the Child Support scheme to see where improvements can be made and we aim to bring forward a consultation document on our proposals by the Summer.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in how many child support appeal cases the appeals are over the 28 day time limit; and what proportion of these appeals are allowed to proceed. [30058]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe operation of the appeals system is a matter for the Independent Tribunal Service who report that from April 1997 to December 1997 a total of 1,962 Child Support Appeals were received which were over the 28 day time limit. During the same period 320 appeals were not admitted. Figures are not kept on the actual number of appeals allowed to proceed.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many departure applications have been refused by the Child Support Agency on preliminary consideration; what number of applications have been(a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully made under each of the grounds for departure; and what plans she has to extend the grounds for departure; [30061]
(2) how many applications for departure have been made to the Child Support Agency from absent parents and persons with care with new assessments since December 1996; how many such applications have been made by parents with pre-December 1996 assessments; how many of each of these were successful; and what was the average change in the assessment; [30125]
(3) how long departure applications to the Child Support Agency are taking to process; what proportion of applications have been referred to an appeal tribunal by the CSA; and what proportion or departure decisions have been appealed. [30126]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyAs at 31 January 1998 13,374 departure direction applications had been refused on preliminary consideration.
762W
Numbers of Successful and Unsuccessful Applications by Grounds Application grounds Successful Unsuccessful Travel to work 1,418 6,171 Contract costs 1,129 6,786 Illness and disability 51 1,700 Debts of the relationship 653 7,253 Pre-1993 commitments 120 2,109 Step-children 89 1,719 Property and capital transfers 165 1,760 Assets capable of producing income or greater income 59 1,395 Diversion of Income 0 840
Numbers of Successful and Unsuccessful Applications by Grounds Application grounds Successful Unsuccessful Lifestyle 3 5,502 Unreasonably high housing costs 56 2,586 Attributable housing costs 1,026 3,887 Unreasonably high travel costs 6 229 Travel costs to be disregarded 11 187 Source:
Child Support Agency management information statistics.
Numbers of applications from existing absent parents and parents with care at December 1996 and from new absent parents and parents with care Applications relating to assessments in force prior to 2 Dec 1996 Applications relating to assessments made on or after 2 Dec 1996 Absent Parents 14,881 7,297 Parents with care 4,890 1,738 Source:
Child Support Agency management information statistics.
Information is not available about the proportions of such cases which were successful.
The average reduction is the level of the maintenance assessment following applications from absent parents is £8.32 per week. The average increase in the level of the maintenance assessment following applications from parents with care is £14.67 per week.
The average processing time for applications which
- (i) fail on preliminary consideration stage is 42 days
- (ii) are refused following full consideration is 93 days
- (iii) succeed is 168 days.
139 applications, (0.5 per cent of all applications) have been referred direct to the appeal tribunal for determination. Around 9 per cent of decisions have been appealed.
There are no current plans to extend the grounds for a departure. However we are looking closely at all aspects of the child support scheme to see where improvements can be made.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish the benefits savings made as a result of Child Support Agency activity for the first half of 1997–98, the desired level of benefits savings required before a child maintenance disregard on income support is to be introduced and the estimated loss in benefits savings if the maintenance disregard was set at £5 a week. [30133]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyBenefit savings as a result of child support activity in the first half of 1997/98 were estimated to be £223 million. We have not set a specific level of benefit savings which we expect to see before a maintenance disregard could be introduced. The longer term programme cost of a £5 disregard of maintenancein income support is estimated to be £65 million for a full year.