§ Norman LambTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints his Department has received in each of the last five years from members of the public in respect of the work of the Child Support Agency. [17950]
§ Malcolm WicksThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Norman Lamb, dated 7 December 2001:
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in replying to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency promised a substantive reply from me.You asked how many complaints the Department has received in each of the last five years from members of the public in respect of the work of the Child Support Agency.My records show that the following number of complaints were received about our work—for completeness 1 also show our caseload as at the end of each year.
Year Number of complaints Caseload 1996–97 23,588 579,200 1997–98 27,875 758,580 1998–99 28,073 923,960 1999–2000 21,159 1,030,100 2000–01 19,634 1,048,920 I hope this is helpful.