§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what his estimate is of the money owed to parents by absentee parents in the City of Durham; [13606]
(2) what his estimate is of how many CSA assessments will be being processed at the end of this financial year; [13607]
(3) how many cases in the Durham area have been dealt with by the CSA since it was established. [13609]
§ Malcolm WicksThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my hon. Friend.
180WLetter from Doug Smith to Mr. Gerry Steinberg, dated 12 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 by me.You asked three questions; our estimate of the money owed to parents with care by non resident parents in the City of Durham, our estimate of how many CSA assessments will be processed at the end of this financial year and how many cases in the Durham area have been dealt with by the CSA since it was established.I am sorry but we don't collect information in a way that will permit me to make a sensible estimate of the amount of maintenance that is owed to parents with care by non-resident parents in the Durham area. I can, however, provide answers to your other questions.I estimate that around 16,500 cases in the Durham area have been dealt with by the CSA since November 1995. This is drawn from a sampling exercise which only started in November 1995 so my figures cannot precede that date.During the current financial year the Agency is expecting to process 380,000 assessments arising from new maintenance applications and 715,111 assessments arising from changes to existing maintenance arrangements.I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. ToddTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will set out an action plan to address the concerns expressed by the Comptroller and Auditor General in qualifying the 2000–01 accounts of the Child Support Agency. [15244]
§ Malcolm WicksThe administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Mark Todd, dated 12 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 by me.I take the concerns that the Comptroller and Auditor General have expressed very seriously and have created an action plan which has two key components:An enhanced focus on corporate governance to ensure that basic checks are carried out, that risk management processes are fully embedded and that lessons learned from audit reports are implemented.The implementation of the Child Support Reforms, which should obviate many mistakes which have led to the qualifications having previously been made.I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the cost in(a) 1999–2000 and (b) 2000–01 of compensation payments for maladministration by the CSA. [18994]
§ 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. John Bercow, dated 17 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 for a statement on the cost in (a) 1999–2000 and (b) 2000–2001 of compensation payments for maladministration by the CSA.181WThe amount of compensation paid by the Agency for maladministration was:
- £3,075,000 for the financial year 1999–2000
- £3,053,000 for the financial year 2000–2001
Deferred debt is also classed as a compensatory payment because we compensate the parent with care for the amount of deferred debt that we do not collect from the non-resident parent. The amounts that were paid were:
- £2,024,000 for the financial year 1999–2000
- 3,693,000 for the financial year 2000–2001
Advance payments are another form of compensation. They are lump sum payments of arrears paid to a parent with care when the Agency has delayed actioning a case. The arrears are however recovered from the non-resident parent over a period of time. The following amounts have been paid:
- £ 862,000 for the financial year 1999–2000
- £1,153,000 for the financial year 2000–2001
In 1999/2000, 2.58% of the total Agency budget was paid in compensation for maladministration and in 2000/2001 3.46% was paid. In both years the amount of compensation for maladministration paid was lower than the amount allocated towards these payments.I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the performance target was for the CSA to reduce its outstanding work by 31 March; and if it was achieved. [19125]
§ 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. John Bercow, dated 12 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 what the performance target was for the CSA to reduce its outstanding work by 31st March; and if it was achieved.The Performance targets were published in the Annual Report and Accounts 2000/2001 and are set out in the attached annex. During the year, these targets were set aside in order to prioritise those elements of work which best supported successful implementation of the Child Support Reforms.I hope this is helpful.
Targets for reduction of outstanding work for year 2000–01 Weeks Outstanding work Target Performance Pre-maintenance assessment 18 30.5 Revisions, supersessions and case checks 6.2 10.8 Account advice 4 5 Interim maintenance assessment 49 276.0 Account maintenance 1.4 1.5 Debt management 12 20.1 Enforcement 30 46.7
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if the CSA met its performance target in 2000–01 for the accuracy of the cash value of all assessments. [19124]
§ 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.
182WLetter from Doug Smith to Mr. John Bercow, dated 12 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 if the CSA met its performance target in 2000–01 for the accuracy of the cash value of all assessments.Our target measures the accuracy of our assessments to the nearest penny and requires us to revisit the whole of the current assessment including those elements which may have been in place for some considerable time. The measure therefore reflects historical mistakes rather than current performance. On that measure we achieved 67.4 per cent. accuracy against a target of 78 per cent. However if we look solely at the most recent action accuracy was 78.5 per cent.In the current year we have continued to improve that latter figure and in October we achieved 82.4 per cent. accuracy.I hope this is helpful.