To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the longest repayment schedule agreed by the Child Support Agency is. (185879)

The information requested is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individual debts written off by the Child Support Agency were worth (a) over £1 million, (b) between £500,000 and £999,999, (c) between £250,000 and £499,999, (d) between £100,000 and £249,999, (e) between £50,000 and £99,999, (f) between £20,000 and £49,999, (g) between £10,000 and £19,999, (h) between £5,000 and £9,999 and (i) between £1,000 and £4,999. (185880)

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 6 March 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 individual debts written off by the Child Support Agency have been worth (a) over £1 million (b) between £500,000 and £999,999 (c) between £250,000 and £499,999 (d) between £100,000 and £249,999 (e) between £50,000 and £99,999 (f) between £20,000 and £49,999 (g) between £10,000 and £19,999 (h) between £5,000 and £9,999 and (i) between £1,000 and £4,999. [185880]

The Agency does not have the power to write off debt and has never done so. The Agency does, however, undertake an annual Debt Analysis Exercise which consists of a random, statistically valid sample of new and old rules cases, to distinguish between debt which is deemed collectable, and that which is deemed possibly uncollectable and probably uncollectable. The results of this sample exercise are applied to the total Agency debt balance and are subject to review by the National Audit Office as part of their audit of the Agency’s accounts. Classing a debt as possibly or probably uncollectable does not mean the Agency has waived its discretion to take action in the future to collect any outstanding money. The Agency may reassess the status of a debt if it receives new information about the case to which it relates.

Figures concerning collectable and uncollectable debt can be found in the Agency’s Annual Report and Accounts. In the most recent debt analysis exercise in March 2007, 49% of debt was classed as collectable.

The Agency takes the collection of outstanding debt very seriously. The focus of the current year of the Operational Improvement Plan is enforcement and compliance, as the Agency strives to increase its debt collection and get more money for more children. Every effort is made to ensure the non-resident parents fulfill their financial responsibility to their children.

I hope you find this answer helpful.