§ Huw Irranca-DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidelines are used by the Child Support Agency in dealing with cases where automatic deductions from pay have been made by an employer, but have not been passed on to the CSA; and what plans he has to review these guidelines. [132281]
§ Mr. PondThe 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 Mike Isaac to Mr. Huw Irranca-Davies, dated 10 November 2003:
In replying to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently on leave I am replying on his behalf.
You asked what guidelines the Child Support Agency uses in dealing with cases where automatic deductions from pay have been made by an employer, but have not been passed on to the Agency.
Where a deduction from earnings is made the employer is required to pay it to the Agency by, at the latest, the 19th of the month following that in which the deduction was made. The Agency will contact the employer soon after the 19th of the month if a payment is not received. While non-receipt of payment from an employer is rare we will also contact the non-resident parent and inform them that payment has not been received from their employer.
§ Mr. TynanTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many liability orders were granted in the last 12 months following enforcement action by the Child Support Agency; [135644]
143W(2) whether priority is given by the Child Support Agency to enforcement action in cases (a) where the parent with care is in receipt of income support and other similar benefits and (b) where the parent with care is not; [135645]
(3) what the maximum acceptable timescale is for the Child Support Agency to complete an enforcement action from its commencement; what proportion of cases met these targets in 2002–03; and what procedures are in place to monitor compliance with these targets. [135755]
§ Mr. PondThe 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 Mike Isaac to Bill Tynan, dated 10 November 2003:
In replying to your recent Parliamentary questions about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked:
How many liability orders were granted in the last 12 months following enforcement action by the Agency:Whether the Agency gives priority to enforcement action in cases where the parent with care is in receipt of income support and other similar benefits;What the maximum acceptable timescale is for the Agency to complete enforcement action, what proportion of cases met such targets in 2002–03, and what procedures are in place to monitor compliance with these targets.From the 1 October 2002–30 September 2003 the Agency was granted 3,169 Liability Orders by the courts in England, Scotland and Wales.Where a non-resident parent refuses to pay the assessed maintenance for their child(ren) we always consider appropriate enforcement action. For employed non-compliant parents the Agency would usually seek to implement deduction from earnings orders from their earnings. For those who are self-employed, or who have other forms of income, we have to take action through the courts. We always seek to give equal priority to those parents with care who are in receipt of benefit and to those who are not.Currently, there are no set timescales for the completion of enforcement action. The time taken varies according to the circumstances of the case, the availability of court dates, the non-attendance of the non-resident parent in court, etc. We are looking to include targets for the different processes that comprise our enforcement action next year.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects that existing cases will be migrated to the new system of operating the Child Support Agency. [136011]
§ Mr. PondI refer my hon. Friend to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson) on 16 September 2003,Official Report, columns 696–97W.