Child Support Agency (Hansard, 2 February 2001)

§ Mr. Todd
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what records the Child Support Agency maintains about fathers' employment status at the time an assessment is made; and what percentage of fathers in employment chose to give up their jobs within 12 months of a Child Support Agency assessment in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [146241]

§ Angela Eagle
The 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 Mike Isaac to Mr. Mark Todd, dated 1 February 2001: I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency.

Table 1: Number of non-resident parents who were in employment at 31 August 1999 and employment status at 31 August 2000, by CSA Business Unit: all cases¹

Agency Business Units (1) Number in employment² at 31 August 1999 (2) Number of (1) in employment² at 31 August 2000 Number of (1) not in employment at 31 August 2000 Number of (1) no longer CSA customers at 31 August 2000

Midlands 80,000 71,000 5,000 4,000

South Eastern 67,000 63,000 3,000 1,000

Scotland and North East England 87,000 80,000 6,000 1,000

South Western 86,000 78,000 4,000 4,000

Wales and North West 83,000 70,000 6,000 7,000

Eastern 89,000 83,000 5,000 1,000

All 491,000 445,000³ 28,000³ 18,000

Number of population in paid employment⁴ 27,500,000 28,000,000 28,000,000 —

Percentage of CSA customers in paid employment against population as a whole 1.78 1.59 — —

¹All cases employed and self-employed with full and interim assessments.

²Those cases employed as at August 2000 may have had periods of unemployment during the year.

³NRP benefit status is more indicative of the case at take-on rather than at the current time.

⁴Source: Labour Force Survey (seasonally adjusted) rounded to nearest half million.

Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand, therefore totals may not tally.
2. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample of CSCS.

Table 2: Number of non-resident parents who were not in employment at 31 August 1999 and employment status at 31 August 2000, by CSA Business Unit:all cases

Agency Business Units (1) Number not in employment at 31 August 1999 (2) Number of (1) not in employment at 31 August 2000¹ (3) Number of (l) in employment at 31 August 2000² (4) Number of (l) no longer CSA customers at 31 August 2000

Midlands 78,000 69,000 4,000 5,000

South Eastern 77,000 71,000 3,000 3,000

Scotland and North East England 90,000 79,000 6,000 5,000

South Western 57,000 46,000 5,000 6,000

Wales and North West 95,000 84,000 5,000 7,000

Eastern 85,000 79,000 4,000 2,000

All 483,000 429,000 27,000 27,000

¹The table does not show whether there were short term periods of employment during the year.

² Employed figure includes self-employed cases.

Notes:
1 Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand, therefore totals may not tally.
2. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample of CSCS.
320W
Mr. Smith is unavailable and therefore I am writing to you on his behalf.
You have asked what records the Agency maintains about the employment status of the father at the time an assessment is made. The Agency requests the employment status of the Parent With Care on the Maintenance Assessment Form and the Non Resident Parent on the Maintenance Enquiry Form. These are then recorded on the Child Support Computer System.
You ask how many people there were in paid employment who had been assessed for child maintenance but who have, during the last 12 months, chosen to give up their jobs. The information is not available in the format requested. Such information that is available is shown in Table 1 in the attached annex. This shows those who were employed as at 31 August 1999 and their employment status as at 31 August 2000 broken down by CSA Business Unit.
Table 2 shows those who were not in employment in August 1999 and their employment status at August 2000. Comparing both sets of data in the enclosed tables you will note that there was movement both into and out of employment during that period.
The Department produces a CSA Quarterly Summary of Statistics which is available in the House of Commons Library and you may find the information it contains of further interest.
321W

§ Mr. Todd
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps are being taken to improve the accuracy of Child Support Agency assessments. [146242]

§ Angela Eagle
The 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 Mike Isaac to Mr. Mark Todd, dated 1 February 2001: I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency. Mr Smith is unavailable and therefore I am writing to you on his behalf. You have asked what steps are being taken to improve accuracy of Child Support Agency assessments. I fully accept that the current level of accuracy is unacceptable and since I joined the Agency last September I have made it a top priority to improve it. Revised checking arrangements, with built in feedback loops to decision makers, have recently been introduced and each of my Area Directors has developed an accuracy plan setting out specific actions for which I will hold them accountable. We have also targeted training at areas of weakness and developed guidance to help deal with particular problem areas. That said, it is unlikely that accuracy will be brought to an acceptable level until the Child Support Reforms are introduced. The complexity of the current calculation, requiring over a hundred separate pieces of information is well documented. However, I will not let the problems of the current system become an excuse for simply waiting for the new scheme and, as already indicated, we will continue to strive to improve accuracy levels. I trust that this is helpful.

§ Mr. Todd
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many cases the Child Support Agency is currently dealing with; and what the average cost was per case over the last 12 months; [146243]
(2) what is the cost to the Child Support Agency of every £100 it recovers. [146244]

§ Angela Eagle
The 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 Mike Isaac to Mr. Mark Todd, dated 1 February 2001: I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency. Mr. Smith is unavailable and therefore I am writing to you on his behalf. You asked how many cases the Child Support Agency is currently dealing with; what the average cost was per case over the last 12 months and what is the cost to the Child Support Agency for every £100 it recovers. The Agency currently (at 31 December 2000) has a Live and Assessed caseload of 1,042,700. This includes Full Maintenance Assessments, Interim Maintenance Assessments and Closures and Suspensions. The average cost per case is £203.10 and is based on the Agency's current running costs (excluding the costs associated with the Child Support Reforms) between January to December 2000 of £211,769,683. The cost to the Agency for every £100 recovered is £25.98. This has been calculated using the total maintenance collected and arranged for the period April to December (£577,930,287) and the Agency running costs (excluding the costs associated with the Child Support Reforms) for the same period (£150,134,117). I hope this is helpful.
322W

§ Mr. Todd
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what information is contained in Child Support Agency records about the nature of a father's relationship to the child's mother; and how the CSA categorises such relationships. [146246]

§ Angela Eagle
The 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 Mike Isaac to Mr. Mark Todd, dated 1 February 2001: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency. Mr Smith is unavailable and therefore I am writing to you on his behalf. No records are held about the nature of a Non Resident Parent's relationship with a child's Parent With Care, nor are categories of relationships held. This information is not relevant to the calculation of Child Support and therefore, is not requested. For the Agency to collect information which is not relevant would not only go beyond its legal powers, but would also be in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 which requires that information must only be obtained to meet legitimate business needs, must be relevant, and not excessive. I hope this is helpful.

Table 1: Number of non-resident parents who were in employment at 31 August 1999 and employment status at 31 August 2000, by CSA Business Unit: all cases¹
Agency Business Units	(1) Number in employment² at 31 August 1999	(2) Number of (1) in employment² at 31 August 2000	Number of (1) not in employment at 31 August 2000	Number of (1) no longer CSA customers at 31 August 2000
Midlands	80,000	71,000	5,000	4,000
South Eastern	67,000	63,000	3,000	1,000
Scotland and North East England	87,000	80,000	6,000	1,000
South Western	86,000	78,000	4,000	4,000
Wales and North West	83,000	70,000	6,000	7,000
Eastern	89,000	83,000	5,000	1,000
All	491,000	445,000³	28,000³	18,000
Number of population in paid employment⁴	27,500,000	28,000,000	28,000,000	—
Percentage of CSA customers in paid employment against population as a whole	1.78	1.59	—	—
¹All cases employed and self-employed with full and interim assessments.
²Those cases employed as at August 2000 may have had periods of unemployment during the year.
³NRP benefit status is more indicative of the case at take-on rather than at the current time.
⁴Source: Labour Force Survey (seasonally adjusted) rounded to nearest half million.

Table 2: Number of non-resident parents who were not in employment at 31 August 1999 and employment status at 31 August 2000, by CSA Business Unit:all cases
Agency Business Units	(1) Number not in employment at 31 August 1999	(2) Number of (1) not in employment at 31 August 2000¹	(3) Number of (l) in employment at 31 August 2000²	(4) Number of (l) no longer CSA customers at 31 August 2000
Midlands	78,000	69,000	4,000	5,000
South Eastern	77,000	71,000	3,000	3,000
Scotland and North East England	90,000	79,000	6,000	5,000
South Western	57,000	46,000	5,000	6,000
Wales and North West	95,000	84,000	5,000	7,000
Eastern	85,000	79,000	4,000	2,000
All	483,000	429,000	27,000	27,000
¹The table does not show whether there were short term periods of employment during the year.
² Employed figure includes self-employed cases.