The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 20 February 2008:
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, how many people who worked for the Child Support Agency have been fired for gross incompetence since the agency was established. [172985]
The Department introduced a new personnel computer system incrementally from November 2006, being fully implemented by April 2007. The information provided in the table below reflects data recorded on that system for the number of staff dismissed because of their attendance record on grounds of sickness and gross misconduct. Information is not available from this system prior to April 2007. The Department has never used a category of gross incompetence although it does have one that would relate to unsatisfactory work. However, there are no recorded dismissals in this latter category since the new system was introduced.
Dismissal reason April 2007 to December 2007 Gross misconduct 6 Unsatisfactory attendance 103 Total 109
There were 10,010 people employed by the Agency as at the end of December 2007. I hope you find this answer helpful.