Supplementary evidence
submitted by Department of Social Security (CS 3)
Question 9. Constituents find it puzzling that
they get letters with the same date at the top but with different
assessments
Each time a decision is made on the maintenance
liability, the Child Support Agency sends a letter to the parent
with care and the non resident parent to inform them of the child
support officer's decision on their child maintenance assessment
and how it has been worked out. The letter also informs them of
their rights of review and appeal.
Most of these notifications are issued automatically
via the Agency's computer system following an assessment. At present
the computer system can only put two assessments on each notification.
Given the number of assessments that may currently be required
to bring a case "up to date", this can sometimes result
in a customer receiving several notifications on the same day.
The Agency are addressing this issue as part
of the Decision Making and Appeals initiative which is due to
be introduced in June 1999. It is proposed to that the existing
notification be revised to allow up to four assessments to be
included on a single notification. The explanation of how the
assessment has been calculated will also be clearer and written
in plain English. In addition, the Agency will also provide customers
with a direct line telephone number to contact the decision maker
to clarify or discuss any issues.
Question 29. Breakdown of non-resident parent
losers
Working non-resident parents with a full maintenance
assessment—changes in assessment due to the proposed simpler
formula:
Amount of assessment change
£ |
Number with a
lower assessment | Number with a
higher assessment |
| 0 to 5 | 30,000 | 25,000 |
| 5 to 10 | 40,000 | 20,000 |
| 10 to 15 | 45,000 | 15,000 |
| 15 to 20 | 40,000 | 10,000 |
| 20 to 25 | 45,000 | 8,000 |
| 25 to 30 | 35,000 | 5,000 |
| 30 to 35 | 15,000 | 3,000 |
| 35 to 40 | 7,000 | 1,500 |
| 40 to 50 | 2,000 | 900 |
| over 50 | 100 | 800 |
| Total | 255,000 | 90,000 |
| These figures relates to assessed liability, not amounts being paid and are estimates based on the current caseload where a full maintenance assessment has been issued. No assumptions have been made about increased compliance or a larger caseload. The figures do not sum due to rounding. |
On the basis of the proposed formula:
— around 70 per cent of non-resident parents in
work would have a lower assessment (an average reduction of £17)
and 25 per cent higher (an average increase of £12);
— in addition, around 60,000 non-resident parents
would pay more due to the removal of exemptions from the £5
minimum payment which currently apply to certain groups of non-resident
parents on benefit or low income.
Question 52. What is your target for that proportion of children
who will get maintenance next year and the year after? What will
it be in two years time?
The number of children receiving maintenance is not at present
a target for the Child Support Agency. Targets, set out in the
Agency's Business Plan 1998-99 and Annual Report and Accounts
1997-98, relate to speed and accuracy of assessment and reviews,
and payment of maintenance.
We are still considering what targets will be appropriate
under a new scheme and whether any changes to the current formula
will be appropriate. We will be considering, in particular whether
some form of care compliance measure might be appropriate.
Question 72. Figures on prosecution of employers who do not
co-operate in applying deductions from earnings orders
In the 12 months up to April 1998 the Agency issued over
50,000 deduction from earnings orders; it needed to make contact
with the employer in about 1,500 instances; only in two cases
has it been necessary to take employers to court for non-compliance
with a deduction from earnings order.
There are many other reasons why a deduction from earnings
order may not be effective. For example, a non-resident parent
has left his employment before the deduction from earnings order
is received by the employer; the non-resident parent's earnings
are below the protected earnings level shown on the order; or,
the order may be cancelled if the non-resident parent makes a
last minute agreement to pay.
Question 74. Deferred take-on cases
Some 340,000 cases were deferred in December 1994 where the
customer was in receipt of Income Support prior to April 1993
and where there had been no Agency contact; a further 16,000 cases
were deferred between January to March 1995 where a maintenance
application form had been issued before July 1994 and either had
not been returned or lacked the necessary information.
It is not possible to give an exact figure for the number
of deferred cases still outstanding; to examine all the deferred
cases would be disproportionately costly. It is estimated that
the number outstanding has reduced to around 135,000 cases.
This reduction is due to a number of reasons:
(i) cases where Income Support has ceased and the parent
with care has made a fresh application for benefit—the Agency
will have become involved and these cases will have been taken
on;
(ii) in some cases the parent with care will have requested
that the Agency take on the case and this will have been done;
and
(iii) some customers will no longer be claiming Income
Support.
Questions 75 and 76. Level of uncollected debt
There are two types of maintenance assessments; full assessments
where both the person with care and the non-resident parent provide
the Agency with all the information required by law; and interim
maintenance assessments where the Agency is unable to obtain sufficient
information to make a full assessment. The majority of interim
maintenance assessments are set at punitive rates, with the intention
being to encourage compliance and take no account of the non-resident
parent's ability to pay.
The Agency regards amounts outstanding under full maintenance
assessments as the amount of maintenance debt to be pursued.
The Agency has been concerned that the final maintenance
debt reported in the annual report was not a true reflection of
the amount ever likely to be collected, because the interim maintenance
assessment does not reflect a non-resident parent's ability to
pay and makes it difficult to enforce. After seeking advice from
HM Treasury and Solicitors, the Agency now "write down",
that is, remove that part of the debt which is unlikely to be
collected, thus giving a more accurate picture of the collectable
debt position.
The annual debt analysis exercise classifies the debt as
collectable, possibly uncollectable or probably uncollectable.
The established probably uncollectable percentage is applied to
the total debt; this amount is the element regarded as unlikely
ever to be collected and it is now removed to show a more realistic
debt position. At 30 June 1998 the Agency's debt was £442.2
million.
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