§ Mr. ToddTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if the Child Support Agency's performance against compliance targets is independently verified. [146245]
§ Angela EagleThe 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 24 January 2001:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the Child Support Agency in which you asked if the Child Support Agency's performance against compliance targets is independently verified.Mr. Smith is unavailable and therefore I am writing to you on his behalf.All of the Secretary of State targets are subject to validation at 3 levels; internally within CSA by DSS. Internal Audit Services who validate the internal exercise and provide assurance levels on the individual targets within it, and by the National Audit Office who also have the ability to look at this work and confirm their satisfaction with the Agency's arrangements.An observer from the NAO also sits on the Standards Committee, which is chaired by an Agency Non-Executive Director, and regulates the monitoring arrangements. The committee also examines the findings and recommendations of the CSA internal Monitoring and Guidance Unit that was created with the help of the NAO.I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. ToddTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much money per year the Child Support Agency collects on behalf of children; and what the equivalent amount recovered for this purpose by other means was in the three years prior to its inception. [146265]
§ Angela EagleThe 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 24 January 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 how much money per year the Child Support Agency collects on behalf of children; and what the equivalent amount recovered for this purpose by other means was in the three years prior to its inception.In the last full year (1999/2000) the Agency collected £730.9m. This is an increase of over £69m (over 10%) on the previous year and an increase of over £183m (33.6%) on two years ago. Full details are given in the attached table.686WWe know that the Court process was extremely costly and much longer than was desirable. The amount of maintenance awarded by the Courts varied widely for fathers in very similar circumstances and neither parent could be sure about how much the award would be until the award was made.However, figures are not available for the amount of money that was collected for the three years prior to the inception of the Child Support Agency.I hope you find this useful.Since the creation of the Agency it has collected or arranged maintenance payments as follows:
£ Collected Arranged Total 1993–941 11,782,812 — 11,782,812 1994–95 54,951,023 133,233,340 188,184,363 1995–96 164,586,102 136,913,676 301.499,778 1996–97 246,594,249 153,291,008 399,885,257 1997–98 344,156,121 202,987,350 547,143,471 1998–99 435,362,826 225,854,644 661,217,470 1999–2000 492,291,556 238,633,996 730,924,937 1 September to March Notes:
Amounts shown as collected are amounts which are paid to the Agency, while amounts shown as arranged are paid directly between the Non-Resident Parent and the Parent or Person With Care following CSA assessment.