Child Support Agency (Hansard, 29 July 1998)

§ Mr. Prior
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much the Child Support Agency cost to run in the last financial year. [53555]

§ Mr. Denham
The cost of running the Child Support Agency in 1997/98 was £210.6 million.

§ Mr. Prior
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the costs to the Child Support Agency of the implementation of the Green Paper, "CHILDREN FIRST: a new approach to child support". [53572]

§ Mr. Denham
The Government are consulting over their proposals for reforming the current child support scheme and the detailed arrangements will not be decided until that process has been concluded. It follows that we cannot, at this early stage, estimate the full costs to the Child Support Agency of moving to a radically simpler system. However, excluding computer costs which may form part of a wider Departmental programme, transitional costs could be in the order of £30 million spread over two to three years.

§ Mr. Pearson
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the new procedural instructions will be put in place for the payment of arrears in cases of CSA maladministration. [52245]

§ Mr. Denham
We expect the Child Support Agency to provide a consistent, fair and efficient service to all its clients. We have set out proposals for radical reform in our Green Paper "Children First: a new approach to child support" (Cm 3992).
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. Ian Pearson, dated 28 July 1998: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about new procedural instructions for payment of arrears in the Child Support Agency. The Agency is extending its special payments scheme to make provision in certain circumstances for payments of arrears to be made to parents with care. Where there is clear evidence that the Agency's maladministration has caused the arrears to accrue we will consider the payment of arrears to the parent with care in advance of maintenance being received from the non-resident parent. The criteria to be used for considering such payments are expected to be finalised shortly. These have been developed in consultation with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration. Once the criteria have been agreed, procedures for the consideration and payment of arrears will be written as a matter of urgency so that payments that are appropriate can be made without any further delay. Once available, guidance will be placed in the Library. I hope this is helpful.