[holding answer 28 February 2008]: Since August 2006, the Agency has referred over 63,000 cases to debt collection agencies with a total debt of £335.9 million. By the end of December 2007, £9.3 million had been collected from 15,619 cases, of which 3,092 had paid in full. Additionally, in the same period, the seven-day warning letter sent by the Agency to inform clients that their debt is being transferred to the debt collection agencies has resulted in an additional £4.7 million being collected by the Agency.
This additional child maintenance collected is contributing to the Agency’s Operational Improvement Plan commitment of collecting over £200 million in additional arrears by March 2009.