§ Mr. ClaphamTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many cases the CSA is currently dealing with and how many were wrongly assessed in the last year for which figures are available; [89052]
(2) how much (a) compensation has been paid to clients and (b) arrears have been removed from clients' cases by the CSA, for excessive delay in processing cases (i) since its establishment and (ii) in the last year for which figures are available. [89051]
§ Angela EagleThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mrs. Faith Boardman. She will write to my hon. Friend shortly.
Letter from Faith Boardman to Mr. Michael Clapham, dated 30 June 1999:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency.
At the end of 1998/99 year the Agency was dealing with 923,960 live and assessed cases.
One of the targets that the Secretary of State set the Agency for 1998/99 was that the cash value of all assessments checked throughout the full year was to be correct in at least 75% of cases. The Agency exceeded this target, with the cash value of 77% of the assessments checked being correct to the last penny.
In April 1995 a scheme was introduced to encourage future compliance by non-resident parents in certain cases by deferring arrears which had accrued due to processing delays by the Agency. Provided the non-resident parent complies with the maintenance assessment for 52 weeks, he is only held liable for the latest six months of the arrears. Where the parent with care suffers financial loss as a result of this arrangement the balance is paid by the Agency as compensation.
In April 1997 the Agency began to clear the backlog of approximately 495,000 cases that had been awaiting assessment for over 52 weeks, and are eligible for the scheme. That backlog has now been reduced to about 47,000 at 31 March 1999—324,859 were cleared during 1998/99.
From the commencement of the scheme until the end of the March 1999 a total of £2,180K has been paid as compensation to parents with care, with £1,297K being paid in the 1998/99 year.
Non-resident parents have had a total of £18.32M of their arrears deferred under this scheme, with £6.6M being deferred in the 1998/99 year.
The figures provided for the 1998/99 year are indicative amounts and have yet to be audited and agreed by the National Audit Office. They may, therefore, be subject to change.
244WThe Agency's Annual Report and Accounts 1998/99 is due to be published next month and I will arrange to send you a copy shortly after issue.
I hope that you find this reply helpful.