[holding answer 11 May 2009]: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about child maintenance, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as child maintenance is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff of the (a) Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission and (b) Child Support Agency have been transferred to his Department in the last year; and to which areas of his Department such staff have been transferred. [274415]
In January of this year and in consultation with Jobcentre Plus the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission brought forward a reorganisation of its people and estates to enable the transfer of staff and estate to Jobcentre Plus. It is currently planned around 630 people and 8 sites will be transferred to Jobcentre Plus by the end of June 2009. This transfer of people and estates contributed to the Department’s plans to increase Jobcentre Plus staffing to maintain service to the increasing numbers of clients coming to Jobcentre Plus as a result of the economic downturn.
The Commission’s business plan, published on 7 May 2009 anticipates reducing resources over 2009/10 to reflect the changes in legislation, and efficiencies in how we administer the current statutory maintenance scheme. This planned transfer of staff in effect brings forward the reduction in headcount and facilitates a strategically desirable reduction in the number of small ‘satellite’ offices the Commission needs to manage. The Commission will continue to recruit as necessary into its major sites to maintain staffing levels.
I can confirm that to date the Commission had transferred a total of 475 people and five sites to Jobcentre Plus with around 155 people and the remaining 3 sites due to be transferred by the end of June 2009. I can confirm that in the preceding months from April 2008 to November 2008 when the Commission took responsibility for the Agency, there were no compulsory transfers of people to the Department or its agencies.
I hope you find this answer helpful.