(a) zero to £2.35, (b) £2.36 to £4.99, (c) £5 to £9.99, (d) £10 to £19.99, (e) £20 to £29.99, (f) £30 to £39.99, (g) £40 to £49.99, (h) £50 to £59.99, (i) £60 to £69.99, (j) £70 to £79.99 and (k) £80 or more who were previously paying no maintenance, excluding those which are new separations. [37596]

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 25 October 1995:

I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security on the subject of maintenance payments.

Whilst it is not possible to exclude new separations, an estimated figure for Income Support cases only is available and is set out in the table below. This is produced based on five per cent. samples of Income Support and Child Support Agency cases, carried out in February 1993 and August 1995 respectively.

Most of the cases included in these samples will be Income Support taken on in the first year of the Agency, when it was estimated that around 50 per cent. of those cases taken on were not already receiving maintenance. This proportion has increased to an estimated 77 per cent. since April 1994, so we would expect the percentage assessed who were not previously receiving maintenance (38.95 per cent.) to increase in future samples.

You also asked for information on how many cases children have had an increase in child maintenance and how many have had a decrease, as a result of being assessed by the Child Support Agency. This information is not available.

Notes:

1. The table may include some instances where maintenance was paid to the DSS in respect of the claimant and/or dependant(s) at February 1993 and some cases where there was no entitlement to maintenance at February 1993.

2. Number of cases includes interim and full maintenance assessments.

(2) if he will give a breakdown of all cases cleared by the Child Support Agency in the last six months showing (a) those where the absent parent is unnamed, (b) other cases which were cleared without assessment, (c) cases where a category A interim assessment was issued and (d) cases where the absent parent was assessed to pay (1) zero to £2.35, (2) £2.36–£4.99, (3) £5–£9.99, (4) £10–£19.99, (5) £20–£29.99, (6) £30–£39.99, (7) £40–£49.99, (8) £50–£59.99, (9) £60–£69.99, (10) £70–£79.99 and (11) £80 or over and to express these figures as numbers of cases cleared during that period and as percentages. [37607]

Letter from Miss. Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 25 October 1995:

I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about cases cleared by the Agency.

You asked for a breakdown of cases cleared in the last six months without a maintenance assessment. As data for September is not yet available, I have based the reply on the first 5 months of the financial year.

During this period, the Agency cleared 128,726 cases of which 44,357 were full maintenance assessments and 8,618 were category A interim maintenance assessments. A further 75,751 cases were cleared without an assessment. As we have no business need to record more specific reason for clearance we cannot provide a more detailed breakdown of these cases.

A breakdown of the full maintenance assessments by amount and as a proportion of cases cleared is attached.

You also asked about cases in which the absent parent was not named. Since April 1995, there have been 35,223 cases in which the absent parent may not have been named. This includes 15,054 cases in which "good cause" for not naming the absent parent was accepted, and 20,169 in which it was not accepted. In cases in which "good cause" was accepted, the person with care may have identified the absent parent, but because of the possible threat to the person with care, or child, the case was not pursued. In some cases, the parent with care may subsequently have named the absent parent and the Agency has pursued maintenance.

Notes

¹ Data extracted from a 5 per cent. sample of cases. As a result, total differs slightly from that recorded by clerical system (44,357).

² Includes absent parents on income support.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 23 October 1995:

I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security concerning the Child Support Agency and the Liable Relatives Unit.

You asked for a comparison of the average amount of maintenance collected per employee between the DSS Liable Relative Unit in its last year of operation, and the CSA. I am afraid that it is not possible to provide information in this form. We do not know how much maintenance was paid direct between parents during the operation of the Liable Relative Unit, and other Department of Social Security staff were involved in the work (e.g. on finance, visiting and training) who were not in the Unit itself. As far as this Agency is concerned, our staff are solely responsible for all child maintenance work, but by no means all of them are directly involved in maintenance collection duties.

Such comparisons between the two systems are misleading, as the nature and organisation of the work the Agency does has greatly changed in comparison with the previous system.

As at 31 March 1995, the CSA employed 6,393 staff. During the 1994/95 year the Agency was involved in the payment of over £187 million in maintenance collected for Child Support assessment.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 20 October 1995:

I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State concerning the number of former income support recipients who no longer receive income support as a result of maintenance payments.

Since January 1994, almost 11,800 claimants have ceased to claim Income Support because the maintenance assessment exceeded the amount of Income Support in payment. A table showing the monthly breakdown is attached.

I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 25 October 1995:

I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security concerning parents with care and the requirement to co-operate with the Child Support Agency in arranging maintenance.

You asked for a monthly breakdown of the outcome of requirement to co-operate investigations completed during 1994/95 and details of such investigations. The attached table shows the information requested.

Of the 38,573 cases where good cause was not accepted, a reduced benefit direction was appropriate in 17,451 cases. In the remaining 21,122 cases, either the Child Support Officer, having had regard for the welfare of the parent with care or any children living with her, decided that a reduced benefit direction was not appropriate, or the parent with care later chose to co-operate with the Agency.

I hope this is helpful.

Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 25 October 1995:

I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security on the number of complaints the Child Support Agency has received since its launch.

From the launch of the Agency in April 1993 to August 1995, over 52,500 written complaints have been received by the Agency. Monthly figures are available from April 1994, and are shown in the table attached.

Many of these complaints are from persons who are opposed to the legislation but not actually affected by it. The number of letters received that contain complaints specifically about the Agency's performance is not separately identified, but it is considerably less than the overall figure shown above.

I hope this is helpful.