Child Support Agency

HC Deb 28 October 1999 vol 336 cc957-8W

Mr. Brady

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his oral answer on 25 October 1999,Official Report, column 698, how many parents with care his Department anticipates will have their entitlement to maintenance reduced under the proposed changes to the CSA; and by what amount. [96057]

Angela Eagle

The purpose of the reforms is to get maintenance flowing more regularly to more children. Overall more than 1 million children will be better off as the changes take effect.

If all existing cases moved to the new scheme today, average maintenance liability for non-resident parents in work would fall from around £38 now to an estimated £30.50. On this basis about 350,000 parents with care, whose non-resident parent is in paid work, would have a lower maintenance assessment as a result of the new child support rates. The average reduction would be about £17 a week. 190,000 parents with care would have a higher assessment, with average increases of around £11.50 a week¹. Changes will be phased in for existing cases.

But assessments bear little relationship to amounts paid. Fewer than half of those using the CSA's collection service are paying everything that is due. Overall only around 66 per cent. of maintenance due is collected. We expect this to rise to 80 per cent. or more.

In addition all parents with care who are on Income Support, for whom maintenance is being paid, will benefit from the child maintenance premium. Over time, we expect the number in this position at least to double as a result of the new simpler scheme. Parents with care receiving Working Families Tax Credit will have any maintenance payments fully ignored.

Taking these factors into account the effect of the reform will be to make around 85 per cent. of parents with care better off at the point they first come to the CSA than they would have been under the previous arrangements. ¹ New scheme maintenance modelled on August 1998 five per cent. scan of Child Support Computer System. Caseloads calibrated to forecast 'A' day levels, and rounded to the nearest 10,000. The average change in maintenance entitlement is rounded to the nearest 50 pence.