The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive.
He will write to the hon. Lady with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 7 March 2007:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which targets are in place for the processing and clearing of Child Support Agency cases.
The Child Support Agency has been set six targets by the Secretary of State for 2006-07, which were published in the Agency’s Business Plan, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library, or on the internet via the following link:
www.csa.gov.uk/pdf/English/reports/plan0607.pdf.
Two of these targets relate to the processing and clearing of applications received since the new scheme was introduced in March 2003.
The first concerns the volume of applications being cleared and states that: by 31 March 2007, the Agency will have reduced the volume of uncleared new scheme applications by 25 per cent. of the amount outstanding by the end of March 2006.
The second concerns the speed with which new applications should be processed and stated that: by 31 March 2007, the Agency will clear 55 per cent. of new applications within 12 weeks of receipt and 80 per cent. within 26 weeks.
The Agency’s latest performance against these targets was published in table 2.1 and table 3 of the December Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary Statistics, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library, or on the internet via the following link:
www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/child_support/csa_quarterly _dec06.asp
[holding answer 23 February 2007]: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter of the Chief Executive. He will write to the right hon. Lady with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 7 March 2007:
In rely to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of Stat for Work and Pensions, whether Child Support Agency staff have received guidance on the prioritisation of the Agency’s caseload by age of case; and if he will make a statement. [122923]
The Secretary of State sets a number of targets to measure the performance, and set the priorities, of the Child Support Agency on a yearly basis. The Secretary of State’s case clearance target by March 2007 is to clear 55 per cent. of cases received that month within 12 weeks, and 80 per cent. of cases within 26 weeks. In addition, under the Operational Improvement Plan, the Agency is committed to reducing the number of uncleared new scheme applications by 25 per cent. by March 2007. The Agency issues guidance to its employees in order to ensure people and resources are effectively deployed to meet these targets and commitments, and to ensure more money gets to more children as quickly as possible.
As of December 2006, 55 per cent. of Agency cases were cleared within 12 weeks, up from 49 per cent. on December 2005, and 74 per cent. of cases were cleared within 26 weeks, up from 64 per cent. in December 2005. Further, as of December 2006 the number of uncleared new scheme applications stood as 186,000 and the total number of uncleared cases in the last three months has been the lowest since comparable records began in 1999.
[holding answer 19 February 2007]: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Lady with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 7 March 2007:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what additional amount of unpaid maintenance debt has been recovered in each month since the introduction of the Operational Improvement Plan; what new debt accrued in each month; what maintenance remained uncollected in each month; and if he will make a statement.
The Operational Improvement Plan announced in Parliament on 9th February 2006 and launched in April 2006 aims over the next three years to improve our service to clients, increase the amount of money we collect, achieve greater compliance from non-resident parents and as a result achieve a reduction in child poverty and a better standard of living for many more children.
The initial phase of the Operational Improvement Plan has focused on the organisational and operational restructuring of the Agency, and the training of our people to increase our capacity and capability. No commitments were made for the first year but once this phase is complete we can expect to see more clearly the benefits of the Plan.
Even now early results show improvements in several key areas and more money is already getting to more children; at the end of December 2006 compared with a year ago:
58,000 more children were in receipt of maintenance or had a maintenance direct arrangement in place
59 per cent of new scheme cases with a liability made a payment or arranged Maintenance Direct (up from 54 per cent)
Uncleared new scheme applications were down by 13 per cent (across both schemes) since March 2006 and in the last three months have been at their lowest since comparable records began in May 1999
55 per cent of applications were cleared within twelve weeks (up from 49 per cent and meeting target level for March 2007) and 74 per cent within six months (up from 64 per cent)
The Agency answered 97 per cent of queued calls over 12 months (up from 90 per cent)
The Operational Improvement Plan included plans to contract out some of the outstanding debt owed to parents with care, to private debt collection agencies. By the end of January 2007 just under £750,000 had been collected by these agencies. A letter sent by the Agency to inform clients that their debt is to be transferred to the external debt collection agencies had also resulted in an additional £640,000 collected by the Agency by the end of January 2007.
During the year ending March 2006 a total amount of £13.5 million was collected through specific legal enforcement work, an average monthly amount of £1.1 million. This has increased to £13.53 million between April and December 2006, giving a monthly average of £1.5 million.
The Agency continues to improve the collection of child support maintenance arrears and during the year ending March 2006 a total amount of £80.8 million was collected, an average monthly amount of £6.7 million. This has increased to an average monthly amount of £7.3 million between April and December 2006.
The attached table states the average debt growth and the total debt outstanding at the end of each month since the implementation of the Operational Improvement Plan.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
2006 Average debt growth per month over previous 12 months (£ million) Total outstanding debt at the end of each month (£ billion) April 19 3.514 May 19 3.533 June 19 3.550 July 19 3.570 August 18 3.588 September 17 3.602 October 16 3.615 November 16 3.630 December 15 3.645 Notes: 1. The above figures have not been audited. Figures will not be finalised until the publication of the CSA Annual Report and Accounts. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest million.