HC Deb 11 September 2003 vol 410 cc442-4W
Mr. Jenkins

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that the Child Support Agency investigates the financial status of absent parents found to be in maintenance arrears. [127289]

Mr. Pond

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 Brian Jenkins, dated 11 September 2003: The Secretary of State in replying to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. You ask what steps he is taking to ensure that the Child Support Agency investigates the financial status of absent parents found to be in maintenance arrears. When any non-resident parent is found to be in arrears, Child Support Agency caseworkers use a standardised process and approach to secure outstanding debt. This generally involves a caseworker contacting the non-resident parent by telephone to establish the non-resident parent's financial position. This would be the starting point to establishing how they wish to address the outstanding maintenance and pay arrears. If there is evidence that the non-resident parent knowingly provides false information this is referred to a specialist fraud team for full investigation.

Mr. Jenkins

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will(a) enable and (b) encourage the Child Support Agency to make deduction of earnings orders against self-employed absent parents; [127293]

(2) what action he is taking to align the processes by which the Child Support Agency treats self-employed absent parents and PAYE absent parents. [127302]

Mr. Pond

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 Brian Jenkins, dated 11 September 2003: The Secretary of State in replying to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. You ask what action is being taken to align the processes by which the Child Support Agency treats self-employed absent parents and PAYE absent parents. You also asked if he will (a) enable and (b) encourage the Child Support Agency to make deduction of earnings orders against self employed absent parents. The Child Support Agency calculates maintenance due from employed and self-employed non-resident parents using broadly the same processes. In essence this requires the non-resident parent to verify their declared income and if we are satisfied, for a calculation to be made. Deductions from earnings orders require an employer to deduct money from the salary of their employee. For self-employed non-resident parents, this method of collecting maintenance is not normally appropriate. Instead we deploy a range of alternative enforcement mechanisms, including:

  1. (a) Levying of distress involving the use of Bailiffs
  2. (b) Establishing a third party debt order—allowing money owed to the debtor to be frozen and sent to us to cover the outstanding debt
  3. (c) Establishing a charging order—registering the debt against certain assets owned by the debtor
  4. (d) Registering a County Court judgement, which may affect the debtors credit rating
  5. (e) Applying for a warrant to commit the debtor to prison or for an order preventing them from holding or obtaining a driving licence.
The position I describe applies to England and Wales with a different but broadly similar approach in Scotland. There are no current proposals to align enforcement arrangements to ensure exactly the same approach is taken to achieve compliance.

Mr. Wray

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what funding the Child Support Agency received in 2002–03; and how many parents he estimates are not contributing to their children's welfare because they cannot be found. [128072]

Mr. Pond

The operation of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my hon. Friend.

Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. James Wray, dated 11 September 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 what funding the Child Support Agency received in 2002/03; and how many parents he estimates are not contributing to their children's welfare because they cannot be found. Our annual report for 2002/03 indicates that we received £215 million as funding for core running costs. I estimate that at the end of June we do not hold a current address for around 100,000 non resident parents. The majority of these are not likely to have a current maintenance assessment requiring a payment but I do not have precise figures.