§ Annabelle EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many(a) third party debt orders, (b) charging orders, (c) county court judgments, (d) levying of distress actions, (e) committal actions and (f) withdrawal of driving licence orders have been (i) sought and (ii) granted at the instance of the CSA in each year since 1997. [106243]
§ 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 Annabelle Ewing, dated 8 April 2003:
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in replying to your recentparliamentary question about the Child Support Agency promised a substantive replyfrom the Chief Executive.You ask how many (a) third party debt orders (b) charging orders (c) county court judgements (d) levying of distress actions (e) committal actions and (f) withdrawal of driving licence orders have been (i) sought and (ii) granted at the insistence of the Agency in each year since 1997.The Agency does not collect or retain reliable information about the use made of different enforcement mechanisms or their relative effectiveness. This is one reason why, last year, I commissioned an internal review of our enforcement work. One outcome from that has been the establishment of a new enforcement management information package so that this information will be available for the future.With that proviso, my best estimate of the use made of different enforcement mechanisms is as follows. You will note that I have not, for each, been able to establish reliable figures for "sought" and "granted".
Third party debt orders Year to 31 March Number 1997 340 1998 370 1999 1,150 2000 1,400 2001 1,500 2002 800 2003 950
Charging orders Year to 31 March Number 1997 70 1998 60 1999 70 2000 80 2001 250 2002 400 2003 700
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County court judgments Year to 31 March Number 1997 300 1998 700 1999 500 2000 650 2001 600 2002 300 2003 550
Levying of distress actions Year to 31 March Number 1997 800 1998 1,000 1999 2,000 2000 2,300 2001 1,600 2002 2,100 2003 2,400 Strictly the Agency does not seek either committal or the withdrawal of a driving licence. These are options available to a Magistrates Court. The number of cases we have taken in each year where the Magistrates choose committal are as follows:
Year to 31 March Number 1997 0 1998 Figures not available 1999 33 2000 7 2001 22 2002 5 2003 16 The Magistrates chose to exercise the option of withdrawing a driving licence in two cases in the last year.
§ Annabelle EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many liability orders in Scotland have been(a) sought and (b) granted at the instance of the Child Support Agency in each year since 1997. [106244]
§ 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 Annabelle Ewing, dated 8 April 2003:
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in replying to your recent parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.You ask how many liability orders in Scotland have been (a) sought and (b) granted at the insistence of the Child Support Agency in each year since 1997.The Agency has not collected or retained information about the use made of different enforcement mechanisms or their relative effectiveness. This is one reason why, last year, I commissioned an internal review of our enforcement work. One outcome from that has been the establishment of a new enforcement management information package so that this type of information will be available for the future.With that proviso, my best estimate of the number of liability orders obtained in Scotland is as follows:
Year to 31 March Number 1998 260 1999 400 2000 700 2001 470 2002 200 2003 280 Clearly there will be a difference between the number "sought" and "granted" but, for the reason explained, I am unable to reliably establish that.