HC Deb 21 April 2004 vol 420 cc19-21WS
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Andrew Smith)

The new arrangements for child support came into operation for new cases and some linked old scheme cases from 3 March 2003. Progress has been slower than anticipated, chiefly due to problems with the new computer and telephony systems. However, over the course of the first year of operation of the new scheme, progress in performance has grown steadily. For example, more than a third of all maintenance

Summary of Agency Performance to March 2004
Agency Performance Quarter 1 Mar-Jun 2003 Quarter 2 Jul-Sep 2003 Quarter 3 Oct-Dec 2003 Quarter 4 Jan-Mar 2004 Scheme to Mar 2004
Applications received 73,582 78,982 85,306 83,652 321,522
Applications cleared of which: 12,648 38,583 49,453 151,876 1152,560
Maintenance Calculations 6,671 23,857 29,672 131,229 191,429
Closures2 5,977 14,726 19,781 120,647 161,131
First payments made through the Agency 461 5,164 11,473 14,017 31,115
First Child Maintenance Premium payments made 77 3,314 6,173 7,484 17,048

Agency Performance (March 2003 to June 2003) March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 Total in Quarter
Applications Received 3,444 25,228 19,951 24,959 73,582
Applications Cleared of which: 43 1,616 3,441 7,548 12,648
Maintenance Calculations 10 721 1,810 4,130 6,671
Closures2 33 895 1,631 3,418 5,977
First payments made through the Agency 136 for 1st 3 months3 325 461
First Child Maintenance Premium payments made 17 for 1st 3 months3 60 77

Agency Performance (July 2003 to September 2003) July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 Total in Quarter Scheme to September 2003
Applications Received 28,897 23,761 26,324 78,982 152,564
Applications Cleared of which 10,526 11,923 16,134 38,583 51,231
Maintenance Calculations 6,922 7,199 9,736 23,857 30,528
Closures2 3,604 4.724 6,398 14,726 20,703
First Payment made through the Agency 1,032 1,752 2,380 5,164 5,625
First Child Maintenance Premium payments made 267 1,596 1,451 3,314 3,391

calculations and over 45 per cent. of all first payments were made in the latest quarter. Further improvement is expected.

The number of cases cleared in the final quarter rose above 50,000 taking the total number of clearances (calculations and closures) to over 150,000. The ratio of cases reaching calculation compared to those that closed continued to be 6:4 to the year's end, comparing favourably with the ratio of 4:6 under the old scheme.

Technical issues continue to preclude reliable figures on compliance and throughput for the latest quarter. The Department continues to retain around 15–20 per cent. of each monthly payment due to EDS, the service provider, due to the continuing problems with the computer and telephony systems. A special exercise is being undertaken to test accuracy to the year-end.

Average weekly child support maintenance payments to parents with care are shown below. Figures are for March 2004 only and are calculated as the total amount received and allocated divided by the number of cases.

1 Qualifying Child 2 Qualifying Child 3 Qualifying Child
Average Weekly Payment £34.25 £48.84 £53.91

Agency Performance (October 2003 to December 2003) October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 Total in Quarter Scheme to December 2003
Applications Received 35,724 28,841 20,741 85,306 237,870
Applications Cleared of which: 19,832 16,011 13,610 49,453 100,684
Maintenance Calculations 11,807 9,975 7,890 29,672 60,200
Closures2 8,025 6,036 5,720 19,781 40,484
First Payments made through the Agency 3,978 3,503 3,992 11,473 17,098
First Child Maintenance Premium payments made 2,108 1,915 2,150 6,173 9,564

Agency Performance (January 2004 to March 2004) January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 Total in Quarter Scheme to March 2004
Applications Received 27,950 24,680 31,022 83,652 321,522
Applications Cleared of which: 16,418 16,316 18,318 151,876 1152,560
Maintenance Calculations 9,803 9,780 10,931 131,229 191,429
Closures2 6,615 6,536 7,387 120,647 161,131
First Payments made through the Agency 4,193 4,284 5,540 14,017 31,115
First Child Maintenance Premium payments made 2,283 2,220 2,981 7,484 17,048
Notes:
1 Quarter 4 totals and Scheme to March 2004 figures include clerical cases (new scheme cases unable to be progressed on the new system) which are not included in the month by-month figures. Figures for these are as follows:
Applications cleared 824
Maintenance Calculations 715
Closures 109
2 Closures: Applications close for a variety of reasons. The main reasons are that the parent with care withdraws the application, perhaps due to reconciliation, or having agreed private arrangements with the non-resident parent.
3 Figures marked with * are not available on a monthly basis for this period.

A proportion of cases that have a maintenance calculation in place may already be receiving payment directly, but will not be reflected in the figures shown above.

Figures for child maintenance premium payments include an estimate of the number of parents who receive the premium by way of a disregard to their income support/income-based jobseekers allowance. The disregard has been added from August as data were not available prior to this, and has also been included in the scheme to date figure.