§ Mr. SwinneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to review the procedures and operation of the Child Support Agency. [153077]
§ Angela EagleWe have no current plans to review the procedures and operation of the Child Support Agency. As a result of a fundamental review of child support completed in December 1998, we have undertaken a radical reform of the system, detailed provision for which is contained in the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000. The new child support scheme will be introduced for new cases by April 2002. Parents who have an existing maintenance assessment will be transferred to the new scheme at a later date when the new arrangements are shown to be working well.
The new child support scheme will be simpler and easy to understand. Child maintenance will be calculated based on a straightforward percentage of the non-resident parent's net income. The basic rate will be 15 per cent. for one child, 20 per cent. for two and 25 per cent. For 462W three or more. The Child Support Agency will be radically reformed to provide a service focused on compliance and the needs of its customers.
Over 1 million more children will gain as a result of the new, simplified system.
The White Paper "A new contract for welfare: Children's Rights and Parents' Responsibilities" (CM 4349) sets out the scheme in more detail.