Child Support Agency (Hansard, 9 July 2002)

§ Bob Russell
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people have been prosecuted for making a false statement to the Child Support Agency in respect of their income; and if he will make a statement; [65782]
(2) what measures are taken by the Child Support Agency to ascertain that details of claimed income by an absent parent are correct; and if he will make a statement; [65783]
(3) how many cases were raised by hon. and right hon. Members with the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years for which figures arc available. [65784]

§ Malcolm Wicks
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to tie hon. Member.
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Bob Russell, dated 8 July 2002: The Secretary of State for Work and Pc nsions in replying to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency promised a substantive reply by me. You ask three questions: 1. How many people have been prosecuted for making a false statement to the Child Support Agency in respect of their income; and if the Secretary of State for Wort and Pensions will make a statement. Our aim is to encourage parents to support their children. In the majority of cases our demonstrated intention to take a case to court has been sufficient to encourage the non-resident parent either to provide the correct requested information or to make arrangements to pay maintenance. Against that background since April 2002, four cases have been taken to court in regard to the provision of false information. 2. What measures are taken by the Child Support Agency to ascertain that details of claimed income by an absent parent are correct, and if the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions will make a statement. The Agency requests verification of all income declared by our clients before the maintenance is calculated. If we are unable to get the necessary information from the client, either because they are unable or unwilling to provide it, we will contact third parties who might reasonably be expected to hold relevant information. 3. How many cases were raised by hon. and right hon. Members with the Child Support Agency in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
860W
Members of Parliament have written to the Agency through Parliamentary Correspondence Unit about the following total number of cases in each of the last five years:

April 1997 to March 1998: 6962

April 1998 to March 1999: 7690

April 1999 to March 2000: 5338

April 2000 to March 2001: 4218

April 2001 to March 2002: 3050

Members of Parliament are also encouraged to contact our offices directly in relation to cases. We do not have a central record of the total number of those cases.
I hope this is helpful.

§ Mr. Webb
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 19 April 2002,Official Report, column 1212W, on the Child Support Agency, when testing of the child support reforms new rules implementation IT project will be complete. [66588]

§ Malcolm Wicks
The 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. Steve Webb, dated 8 July 2002: 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 ask pursuant to the Answer of 19th April Official Report column 1212W on the Child Support Agency when testing of the Child Support Reforms New Rules Implementation IT project will be complete. The testing of the new IT system to support Child Support Reform is progressing. When this work is complete I will advise the Secretary of State accordingly. I hope this is helpful.

§ Mr. Willetts
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people were committed to prison because they had committed offences relating to the work of the Child Support Agency in each year since the Agency was established; [62577]
(2) how many parents have faced criminal sanctions under the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 because they have (a) failed to provide the Child Support Agency with required information and (b) provided false information. [62606]

§ Malcolm Wicks
The 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. David Willetts, dated 8 July 2002: 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 ask two questions; how many people were committed to prison because they had committed offences relating to the work of the Child Support Agency in each year since the Agency was established and how many parents have faced criminal sanction under the Child Support Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 because they have (a) failed to provide the Child Support Agency with required information and (b) provided false information.
861W
Our aim is to encourage parents to support their children. In the majority of cases our demonstrated intention to take a case to court has been sufficient to encourage the non-resident parent either to provide requested information or to make arrangements to pay maintenance.
Against that background:
Since April 2001, one person has been committed to prison. Prior to this, the information wasn't centrally gathered.
There have been no cases taken to court in respect of failing to provide required information.
Since april 2002, four cases have been taken to court in regard to the provision of false information.
I hope this is helpful.