§ Mr. EdwardsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what powers the Child Support Agency has to obtain child support from a self-employed absent parent who has not contributed maintenance to a parent with care; and how these powers have been used in the case of Elaine Lanchbury, a constituent. [31116]
§ 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.
412WLetter from Doug Smith to Mr. Huw Edwards, dated 4 March 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 have asked firstly what powers the Child Support Agency has to obtain child support from a self-employed non-resident parent who has not contributed maintenance to a parent with care and secondly how these powers have been used in the case of Elaine Lanchbury a constituent.There are a number of options available which can be considered when the Agency is trying to obtain maintenance payments from a non-compliant, self-employed non-resident parent.
- Those options include:
- County Court Judgement—entering a Liability Order on the register which is passed to Credit Reference Agencies,
- referring a case to Bailiffs,
- a garnishee order—which allows recovery from money held in a bank account,
- a charging order—which enables the payment of debts to be secured by a charge on land or property and
- referral of a case to court for it to consider committal to prison or withdrawal or holding of a driving licence.
- Individual cases are a confidential matter and I have written to you separately regarding Ms Lanchbury.
I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of people who have had their driving licences removed by the courts since April 2001 as a result of the provisions introduced under the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000. [33342]
§ 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. Steve Webb, dated 4 March 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 of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Firstly, if he will estimate the number of people who have had their driving licences removed by the courts since April 2001 as a result of the provisions introduced under the Child Support Pensions and Social Security Act 2000. Secondly, how many people have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted; and what was the average sentence from that conviction under the criminal offence of non-co-operation with the CSA.No driving licences have been removed by the Courts from non-resident parents. In two cases the Courts ordered a non-resident parent to be disqualified from holding a driving licence but the order was suspended. They are both now making regular payments.There have been no prosecutions and therefore no convictions made under the criminal offence of non-co-operation with the Child Support Agency. The deterrent effect of a criminal sanction for failing to provide information when requested is an important element of the new system. We strongly encourage parents to co-operate voluntarily with requests for information before referring the case for consideration of prosecution under the new legislation.I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average payment is made in child support maintenance by the non-resident parent under the CSA system for(a) one child, (b) two children and (c) three children. [33266]
413W
§ Malcolm WicksThe information is in the table.
The average maintenance paid in the current child support scheme Number of qualifying children Average per week (£) 1 7.98 2 10.65 3 10.23 Note:
Includes nil assessments.
Source:
5 per cent. scan of the Child Support Computer System August 2001.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the(a) percentage and (b) number of non-resident parents who would see a reduction in their CSA child support maintenance liability under the April 2002 scheme. [33264]
§ Malcolm WicksBased on an assessment made in 1998, had all cases transferred to the new child support scheme at that time, around 65 per cent. of non-resident parents in work would have seen a reduction in their child support liability. This amounts to approximately 425,000 cases. However, it is not possible to make a firm estimate of the impact on non-resident parents for 2003, five years later, given earnings growth and changes in family circumstances.
Note:
New scheme maintenance modelled on 5 per cent. scan of the child support computer system August 1998.