§ Diana OrganTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how long an individual in Gloucestershire will have to wait for reassessment by the Child Support Agency as a result of job loss following the introduction of the new system of calculation. [134210]
§ 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.
1339WLetter from Mike Isaacs to Diana Organ, dated 20 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 how long an individual in Gloucestershire would have to wait for re-assessment by the Agency following the introduction of the new system of maintenance calculation.
The Agency is unable to break down clearance times separately for the Gloucester area.
If the client has been assessed under the old child support scheme they will be re-assessed under that scheme. They will only be re-assessed under the new scheme when the Government decides that it is working sufficiently well to move the existing caseload to it.
If the client was assessed under the new scheme (i.e. since 3rd March 2003) they will be re-assessed under the new scheme. While the Agency aims to clear those re-assessments as quickly as possible, such re-assessments have been relatively few with the result that information on clearance times is not yet available.