| Previous Section | Home Page |
Child Support Agency
Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) in how many cases children have had an increase in child support maintenance and how many have had a decrease, as a result of being assessed by the Child
Column 811
Support Agency; and if he will provide a breakdown of these statistics; [37594](2) what is the proportion of Child Support Agency cases assessed at (a) zero to £2.35, (b) £2.36 to £4.99, (c) £5 to £9.99, (d) £10 to £19.99, (e) £20 to £29.99, (f) £30 to £39.99, (g) £40 to £49.99, (h) £50 to £59.99, (i) £60 to £69.99, (j) £70 to £79.99 and (k) £80 or more who were previously paying no maintenance, excluding those which are new separations. [37596]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 25 October 1995:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security on the subject of maintenance payments. Whilst it is not possible to exclude new separations, an estimated figure for Income Support cases only is available and is set out in the table below. This is produced based on five per cent. samples of Income Support and Child Support Agency cases, carried out in February 1993 and August 1995 respectively.
Most of the cases included in these samples will be Income Support taken on in the first year of the Agency, when it was estimated that around 50 per cent. of those cases taken on were not already receiving maintenance. This proportion has increased to an estimated 77 per cent. since April 1994, so we would expect the percentage assessed who were not previously receiving maintenance (38.95 per cent.) to increase in future samples.
You also asked for information on how many cases children have had an increase in child maintenance and how many have had a decrease, as a result of being assessed by the Child Support Agency. This information is not available.
Maintenance assessed
at August 1995 for |As a percentage of
parents with care |the 333,500 cases
who
received no |assessed at August
maintenance whilst |1995 who were in
on
Income Support in |Number of cases: |receipt of Income
February 1993 |(000's) |Support in 1993
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) £0 to £2.35 |60 |17.97
(b) £2.36 to £4.99 |1 |0.30
(c) £5 to £9.99 |2 |0.60
(d) £10 to £19.99 |4 |1.20
(e) £20 to £29.99 |5 |1.50
(f) £30 to £39.99 |6 |1.80
(g) £40 to £49.99 |7 |2.10
(h) £50 to £59.99 |8 |2.40
(i) £60 to £69.99 |4 |1.20
(j) £70 to £79.99 |3 |0.90
(k) £80 or more |29 |8.69
Total |130 |38.95
Notes:
1. The table may include some instances where maintenance was paid to the DSS in
respect of the claimant and/or dependant(s) at February 1993 and some cases where
there was no entitlement to maintenance at February 1993.
2. Number of cases includes interim and full maintenance assessments.
Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many cases have been cleared without assessment by the Child Support Agency in the last six months, with a breakdown of the reasons; [37597]
Column 812
(2) if he will give a breakdown of all cases cleared by the Child Support Agency in the last six months showing (a) those where the absent parent is unnamed, (b) other cases which were cleared without assessment, (c) cases where a category A interim assessment was issued and (d) cases where the absent parent was assessed to pay (1) zero to £2.35, (2) £2.36-£4.99, (3) £5-£9.99, (4) £10-£19.99, (5) £20-£29.99, (6) £30-£39.99, (7) £40-£49.99, (8) £50-£59.99, (9) £60- £69.99, (10) £70-£79.99 and (11) £80 or over and to express these figures as numbers of cases cleared during that period and as percentages. [37607]Mr. Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss. Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Miss. Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 25 October 1995:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about cases cleared by the Agency. You asked for a breakdown of cases cleared in the last six months without a maintenance assessment. As data for September is not yet available, I have based the reply on the first 5 months of the financial year.
During this period, the Agency cleared 128,726 cases of which 44,357 were full maintenance assessments and 8,618 were category A interim maintenance assessments. A further 75,751 cases were cleared without an assessment. As we have no business need to record more specific reason for clearance we cannot provide a more detailed breakdown of these cases.
A breakdown of the full maintenance assessments by amount and as a proportion of cases cleared is attached.
You also asked about cases in which the absent parent was not named. Since April 1995, there have been 35,223 cases in which the absent parent may not have been named. This includes 15,054 cases in which "good cause" for not naming the absent parent was accepted, and 20,169 in which it was not accepted. In cases in which "good cause" was accepted, the person with care may have identified the absent parent, but because of the possible threat to the person with care, or child, the case was not pursued. In some cases, the parent with care may subsequently have named the absent parent and the Agency has pursued maintenance.
Full assessments by amount and as a proportion of cases cleared:
1 April 1995 to 31 August 1995
|Per cent. as a
|Full assessments |proportion of cases
Weekly maintenance |(000's) |cleared
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
£0 to £2.35<2> |20.7 |16.08 per cent.
£2.36 to £4.99 |0.5 |0.39 per cent.
£5 to £9.99 |0.9 |0.70 per cent.
£10 to £19.99 |2.7 |2.10 per cent.
£20 to £29.99 |3.3 |2.56 per cent.
£30 to £39.99 |3.5 |2.72 per cent.
£40 to £49.99 |3.8 |2.95 per cent.
£50 to £59.99 |3.4 |2.64 per cent.
£60 to £69.99 |2.5 |1.94 per cent.
£70 to £79.99 |2.5 |1.94 per cent.
£80 or more |2.4 |1.86 per cent.
Total |<1>46.0 |35.73 per cent.
Notes
<1> Data extracted from a 5 per cent. sample of cases. As a result, total
differs slightly from that recorded by clerical system (44,357).
<2> Includes absent parents on income support.
Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was (a) the total staff employed by the Department of Social Security's liable relatives unit at the time of its abolition, (b) the total staff currently employed by the Child Support Agency, (c) the average amount of maintenance collected per employee by the Department of Social Security's liable relatives unit in the last year of its operation, weighted for 1995 prices and (d) the average amount of maintenance collected per employee by the Child Support Agency in the last year.
Mr. Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 23 October 1995:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security concerning the Child Support Agency and the Liable Relatives Unit.
You asked for a comparison of the average amount of maintenance collected per employee between the DSS Liable Relative Unit in its last year of operation, and the CSA. I am afraid that it is not possible to provide information in this form. We do not know how much maintenance was paid direct between parents during the operation of the Liable Relative Unit, and other Department of Social Security staff were involved in the work (e.g. on finance, visiting and training) who were not in the Unit itself. As far as this Agency is concerned, our staff are solely responsible for all child maintenance work, but by no means all of them are directly involved in maintenance collection duties.
Such comparisons between the two systems are misleading, as the nature and organisation of the work the Agency does has greatly changed in comparison with the previous system.
As at 31 March 1995, the CSA employed 6,393 staff. During the 1994/95 year the Agency was involved in the payment of over £187 million in maintenance collected for Child Support assessment.
Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many former income support claimants were lifted off this benefit due to maintenance paid by the Child Support Agency in each month since January 1994. [37601]
Mr. Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 20 October 1995:
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State concerning the number of former income support recipients who no longer receive income support as a result of maintenance payments.
Since January 1994, almost 11,800 claimants have ceased to claim Income Support because the maintenance assessment exceeded the amount of Income Support in payment. A table showing the monthly breakdown is attached.
I hope this is helpful.
|Number of
|claimants
----------------------------------
1994
January |643
February |491
March |1,191
April |614
May |403
June |905
July |1,378
August |655
September |560
October |451
November |975
December |552
1994 total |8,818
1995
January |546
February |628
March |511
April |317
May |265
June |212
July |219
August |241
1995 total |2,939
1994-95 total |11,757
Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will give an account for the cases investigated by the Child Support Agency under the requirement to co-operate which are not explained by good cause accepted, absent parent named or reduced benefit directive imposed; [37602]
(2) how many cases were investigated by the Child Support Agency during 1994 95 under the requirement to co-operate; and if he will provide a month -by-month breakdown showing in how many cases good cause was accepted, in how many a reduced benefit directive was imposed and in how many the absent parent was named; [37604] (3) if he will provide an explanation of the cases investigated by the Child Support Agency under the requirement to co-operate which are not accounted for by good cause accepted, absent parent named or a reduced benefit directive; and if he will provide a breakdown of these statistics. [37605]
Mr. Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 25 October 1995:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security concerning parents with care and the requirement to co- operate with the Child Support Agency in arranging maintenance.
You asked for a monthly breakdown of the outcome of requirement to co- operate investigations completed during 1994/95 and details of such investigations. The attached table shows the information requested.
Of the 38,573 cases where good cause was not accepted, a reduced benefit direction was appropriate in 17,451 cases. In the remaining 21,122 cases, either the Child Support Officer, having had regard for the welfare of the parent with care or any children living with her, decided that a reduced benefit direction was not appropriate, or the parent with care later chose to co-operate with the Agency.
I hope this is helpful.
Requirement to Co-operate Decisions 1994-95
|Good cause |Absent parent |Good cause not |Reduced benefit |Investigations
Month |accepted |named |accepted |direction issued|completed
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April |3,335 |1,073 |2,705 |205 |7,113
May |3,915 |1,191 |2,904 |258 |8,010
June |4,018 |1,200 |3,071 |892 |8,289
July |3,682 |944 |2,831 |1,143 |7,457
August |3,636 |864 |3,306 |1,726 |7,806
September |3,187 |792 |2,545 |2,846 |6,524
October |3,006 |844 |2,449 |3,791 |6,299
November |3,465 |937 |3,554 |2,969 |7,956
December |2,269 |609 |2,854 |1,285 |5,732
January |3,177 |770 |4,399 |973 |8,346
February |3,839 |958 |3,699 |922 |8,496
March |4,137 |993 |4,256 |441 |9,386
Total |41,666 |11,175 |38,573 |17,451 |91,414
Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many complaints have been received by the Child Support Agency in each month since its launch.
Mr. Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Liz Lynne, dated 25 October 1995:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security on the number of complaints the Child Support Agency has received since its launch.
From the launch of the Agency in April 1993 to August 1995, over 52,500 written complaints have been received by the Agency. Monthly figures are available from April 1994, and are shown in the table attached.
Many of these complaints are from persons who are opposed to the legislation but not actually affected by it. The number of letters received that contain complaints specifically about the Agency's performance is not separately identified, but it is considerably less than the overall figure shown above.
I hope this is helpful.
|1993-94 |1994-95 |1995-96
----------------------------------------------------------------------
April | |1,465 |3,025
May | |1,984 |2,481
June | |1,881 |3,113
July | |1,992 |2,281
August | Monthly |1,131 |3,160
September | breakdown |2,536 |-
October | unavailable |2,579 |-
November | |3,070 |-
December | |2,458 |-
January | |1,483 |-
February | |3,121 |-
March | |3,948 |-
Total |10,846 |27,648 |14,060
Benefit Uprating
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will (a) list, for each benefit which is not being uprated and each capital or income limit which is not being raised, the reasons for not doing so and (b) list
Column 816
the current value of each such benefit or limit and the value that would have resulted from increasing it in line with prices and average earnings since it was (i) last increased or (ii) introduced when announcing benefit rates for 1996 97. [39660]Mr. Burt: The information is not available. Details of the benefit uprating from April 1996 will be released as part of the Budget.
Appeal Tribunals
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the current rates of remuneration of chairpersons and members of (a) social security, (b) medical, (c) disability and (d) child support tribunals. [39658]
Mr. Burt: The available information is in the table. Members of social security and child support appeal tribunals are not paid but can claim loss of earnings.
|Appeal |Daily rate
Position |tribunal |£
------------------------------------------------
Chairman |All |250
Medical member |Medical |228
Medical member |Disability|186
Lay member |Disability|115
Child Benefit
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the combined value of (a) child dependency increase and child benefit for the child of a widow and (b) children's allowance and child benefit for the child of a war widow at current and April 1995 prices and as a percentage of average earnings, in November 1979 and at each subsequent uprating date. [39654]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: The information is in the tables:
Column 817
Table 1: Widows benefit
|Rate of
|Child |As a
|Benefit plus |percentage |Equivalent
|child |Gross adult |of gross |value of
|dependency |weekly |adult weekly |benefit at
|increase for |average |average |April 1995
Uprating date |first child |earnings |earnings |prices
|£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
November 1979 |11.10 |100.60 |11.0 |27.45
November 1980 |12.25 |120.20 |10.2 |26.27
November 1981 |12.95 |132.40 |9.8 |24.80
November 1982 |13.80 |142.40 |9.7 |24.87
November 1983 |14.10 |156.70 |9.0 |24.24
November 1984 |14.50 |167.00 |8.7 |23.75
November 1985 |15.05 |178.70 |8.4 |23.38
July 1986 |15.15 |189.10 |8.0 |23.15
April 1987 |15.30 |198.90 |7.7 |22.39
April 1988 |15.65 |218.40 |7.2 |22.04
April 1989 |16.20 |239.70 |6.8 |21.12
April 1990 |16.90 |263.10 |6.4 |20.13
April 1991 |17.95 |284.70 |6.3 |20.09
October 1991 |18.95 |294.70 |6.4 |20.90
April 1992 |19.40 |304.60 |6.4 |20.83
April 1993 |19.80 |316.90 |6.2 |20.98
April 1994 |20.00 |325.70 |6.1 |20.67
April 1995 |20.25 |336.30 |6.0 |20.25
Table 2: Widows benefit
|Rate of
|Child |As a
|Benefit plus |percentage |Equivalent
|child |Gross adult |of gross |value of
|dependency |weekly |adult weekly |benefit at
|increase for |average |average |April 1995
Uprating date |subsequent |earnings |earnings |prices
|children
|£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 1991 |17.95 |284.70 |6.3 |20.09
October 1991 |18.20 |294.70 |6.2 |20.07
April 1992 |18.65 |304.60 |6.1 |20.02
April 1993 |19.05 |316.90 |6.0 |20.19
April 1994 |19.25 |325.70 |5.9 |19.89
April 1995 |19.50 |336.30 |5.8 |19.50
Notes:
1. Gross adult weekly earnings have been rounded to the nearest 10p.
2. From October 1991 the combined rate of child benefit and child dependency
increases for the first child and subsequent children diverged. Table 2 reflects
the rate in payment for subsequent children from that point.
Table 3: War widows benefit
|Rate of
|Child |As a
|Benefit plus |percentage |Equivalent
|child |Gross adult |of gross |value of
|dependency |weekly |adult weekly |benefit at
|increase for |average |average |April 1995
Uprating date |first child |earnings |earnings |prices
|£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
November 1979 |14.00 |100.60 |13.9 |34.62
November 1980 |15.35 |120.20 |12.8 |32.92
November 1981 |16.10 |132.40 |12.2 |30.84
November 1982 |17.10 |142.40 |12.0 |30.82
November 1983 |17.45 |156.70 |11.1 |30.00
November 1984 |17.90 |167.00 |10.7 |29.32
November 1985 |18.55 |178.70 |10.4 |28.82
July 1986 |18.65 |189.10 |9.9 |28.50
April 1987 |18.85 |198.90 |9.5 |27.59
April 1988 |19.25 |218.40 |8.8 |27.11
April 1989 |19.85 |239.70 |8.3 |25.88
April 1990 |20.65 |263.10 |7.8 |24.60
April 1991 |21.90 |284.70 |7.7 |24.52
October 1991 |22.90 |294.70 |7.8 |25.26
April 1992 |23.40 |304.60 |7.7 |25.12
April 1993 |23.85 |316.90 |7.5 |25.27
April 1994 |24.10 |325.70 |7.4 |24.90
April 1995 |24.40 |336.30 |7.3 |24.40
Table 4: War widows Benefit
|Rate of
|Child |As a
|Benefit plus |percentage |Equivalent
|child |Gross adult |of gross |value of
|dependency |weekly |adult weekly |benefit at
|increase for |average |average |April 1995
Uprating date |subsequent |earnings |earnings |prices
|children
|£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 1991 |21.90 |284.70 |7.7 |24.52
October 1991 |22.15 |294.70 |7.5 |24.43
April 1992 |22.65 |304.60 |7.4 |24.31
April 1993 |23.10 |316.90 |7.3 |24.48
April 1994 |23.35 |325.70 |7.2 |24.13
April 1995 |23.65 |336.30 |7.0 |23.65
Notes:
1. Gross adult weekly earnings have been rounded to the nearest 10p.
2. From October 1991 the combined rate of child benefit and child dependency
increases for the first child and subsequent children diverged. Table 4 reflects
the rate in payment for subsequent children from that point.
Occupational Pensions
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the effect on an early leaver's pension rights if his period of employment was too short to qualify for a pension under the employer's pension scheme and the employer fails to pay a contributions equivalent premium within the prescribed time limit. [39659]
Mr. Heald: A contributions equivalent premium is payable to the state if someone leaves a contracted-out salary-related occupational pension scheme before state pension age with less than two years' pensionable service with his employer. Payment of a CEP means that the employee's rights under the state earnings-related pension scheme are restored as if he had not been in contracted-out employment. Where a CEP is not paid within the prescribed time limit the employer's pension scheme remains liable to provide a guaranteed minimum pension and is notified accordingly by the Contributions Agency. There is no liability to pay a CEP which does not exceed £17.00. In this situation, the amount payable is treated as having been paid and the earner's SERPS rights restored as if he had not been in contracted-out employment.
Column 819
Income Support
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the annual change in the amount of income support payable to a single pensioner with savings of £5,000, £8,000 or £8,100 in 1995 96 if the capital limits had been raised since 1986 in line with (a) prices and (b) average earnings. [39656]
Mr. Rogers Evans: The information is not available in the format requested. However, we are able to give figures showing the change in the amount of tariff income brought to account, as a result of the capital limits being uprated by (a) the retail prices index and (b) average earnings since 1988. The estimated changes in tariff income are set out in the table:
Amount of capital |Change in tariff |Change in tariff
held |income under capital|income under capital
|limits uprated by |limits uprated by
|(a) prices |(b) earnings
£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5,000 |5 |7
8,000 |5 |7
8,100 |16 |14
Notes:
1. The capital limits of £3,000 and £6,000 have been uprated by (a) the retail
prices index, and (b) average earnings from 1988 to 1995-96 prices, and not 1986.
The question has been answered in this form because income support was not in place
until 1988. No account has been taken of governmental increases to the limits since
1988.
2. For cases on income support with capital held below the current upper limit of
£8,000 the change in their weekly tariff income is equivalent to the gain in income
support.
3. Those with capital of £8,100 might become entitled to income support under the
upper capital limit, depending upon their underlying entitlement to income support,
reduced by the tariff income indicated in the table.
Widow's Benefit
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what change in the £1,000 widow's payment would be required in April 1996 in order to restore it to its value in relation to (a) prices and (b) average earnings in 1985. [39655]
Mr. Heald: The information is not available in the format requested. Since 1988, benefit upratings have been based on movement in the retail prices index over the preceding September to September period. Data on earnings growth in the period September 1994 to September 1995 are not yet available. If the widow's payment had been uprated in line with prices since December 1985, it would be £1, 584.65 at April 1996.
Notes:
1. Figures rounded to nearest 5 pence.
2. The retail prices index (all items) up to September 1995 as published by the Central Statistical Office had been used for prices uprating.
Households Below Average Income
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he intends to publish any amendment to "Households Below Average Income: a statistical analysis 1979 1992/93". [40237]
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: I have today placed in the Library of the House an addendum to the publication "Households Below Average Income: a statistical analysis 1979 1992/93" published on 2 June 1995. This sets out the minor corrections necessary in a number of places in the document, as a result of two data errors. Both errors are well within the margins of error which were set out in the original publication. I have written to the hon. Members correcting replies to parliamentary questions based on the incorrect data. Details of these parliamentary questions are in the table.
Column 819
Name |Constituency |Date answered |Hansard reference -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Mark Robinson |Somerton and Frome |19 June |Vol. 262 col. 16 Mr. John Battle |Leeds West |27 June |Vol. 262 col. 584 Mr. John Battle |Leeds West |27 June |Vol. 262 col. 584 Ms Jean Corston |Bristol East |18 July |Vol. 263 col. 1089-90 Ms Jean Corston |Bristol East |18 July |Vol. 263 col. 1089-90 Ms Jean Corston |Bristol East |18 July |Vol. 263 col. 1091-94 Mr. John McAllion |Dundee East |19 July |Vol. 263 col. 1484-85
|
| Home Page |