Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of people in the United Kingdom are claiming (a) incapacity benefit, (b) the children's tax credit, (c) bereavement benefit, (d) attendance allowance, (e) council tax credit,
4 Nov 2004 : Column 417W
(f) invalid care allowance, (g) housing benefit and (h) disability living allowance. [191083]
Maria Eagle: The available information is in the table.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the oral evidence of the right hon. Member for Oxford East (Mr. Smith) of 11 February to the Work and Pensions Select Committee, on the Child Support Agency reforms, when the recovery programme to enable old CSA cases to be transferred to the new system began; how many cases have so far been transferred; how many cases are still to be transferred; what upgrades to the telephony and computer system have been made; and if he will make a statement. [193719]
Mr. Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Steve Webb dated 4 November 2004:
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, pursuant to the Right honourable Member for Oxford East's oral statement of 11th February to the Work and Pensions Select Committee, on the Child Support Agency reforms, when the recovery programme to enable old CSA cases to be transferred to the new system began; how many cases have so far been transferred; how many cases are still to be transferred; what upgrades to the telephony and computer system have been made; and if he will make a statement.
EDS commenced their remediation work on their computer system last November following an external review commissioned by them. Its intention is to remove defects within that system. They will then provide the software necessary to migrate existing cases to their new system. Meanwhile, the only cases moving from the existing IT system to the new system are those linked in some way to a new application. At the end of 30 June 2004 around 409,000 cases had been migrated. At the same date around 893,000 cases remained on the 'old system'.
Four CS2 computer system upgrades in January, March, May and July. These upgrades addressed system defects, principally the rectification of issues with stuck cases. They also delivered a number of functional and performance improvements in the areas of system throughput, system stability and response times.
Two telephony system upgrades in January and March which addressed synchronisation problems between the CS2 system and the telephony system, leading to service improvements in the number of calls answered, and improved system stability.
Three Management Information System releases delivering improvements in the range and quality of operational, management and statutory reports.
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assistance the Child Support Agency is able to give applicants for child support in investigating the financial circumstances of the parent responsible for paying child support. [193837]
Mr. Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my hon. Friend with the information requested.
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. David Kidney dated 4 November 2004:
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, what assistance the Child Support Agency is able to give applicants for child support in investigating the financial circumstances of the parent responsible for paying child support.
The Child Support Agency does not directly assist applicants to investigate the financial circumstances of the parent responsible for paying child support. If the applicant has concerns regarding the circumstances of a non-resident parent in receipt of benefit, it will normally refer the case to Jobcentre Plus to investigate. If the non-resident parent is an employee the Agency can verify the financial circumstances through the employer or through liaison with the Inland Revenue. If the non-resident parent is self employed then liaison with the Inland Revenue can also be used or we can seek to inspect the relevant business records.
Since January 2001 it has been a criminal offence, for anyone involved in an application for child support, to provide false information 1 .
1 Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000, Section 13(b), inserted this Section 14 offence into the Child Support Act 1991, on the 31/01/01.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for how many children, broken down by age, Child Support Agency payments have been calculated in each year since the Agency's inception. [193907]
Mr. Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my right hon. Friend with the information requested.
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr Frank Field dated 4 November 2004:
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, for how many children broken down by age Child Support Agency payments have been calculated in each year since the Agency's inception.
I am not able to provide the information you seek in this format. I can however indicate the number of qualifying children linked to the Agency's caseload in each year.
Period (As at March) | Number |
---|---|
New System: | |
2003 | 12,900 |
2004 | 328,500 |
Old System: | |
1999 | 1,273,900 |
2000 | 1,420,500 |
2001 | 1,459,300 |
2002 | 1,488,500 |
2003 | 1,373,700 |
2004 | 1,064,100 |
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parents with care applied for Child Support Agency (CSA) maintenance after 1 March 2003 and have been prevented from applying on the new scheme because the absent parent is judged by the CSA as having to pay maintenance for children from a previous partner under the old scheme. [194275]
Mr. Pond:
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my right hon. Friend with the information requested.
4 Nov 2004 : Column 420W
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Frank Field, dated 4 November 2004:
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 parents with care applied for Child Support Agency (CSA) maintenance after 1st March 2003 and have been prevented from applying on the new scheme because the absent parent is judged by the CSA as having to pay maintenance for children from a previous partner under the old scheme.
No parents with care have been prevented from applying on the new scheme because the non-resident parent is judged by the CSA as having to pay maintenance for children from a previous partner under the old scheme.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library a copy of the EDS contract for the Child Support Agency's new IT system. [194277]
Mr. Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my right hon. Friend with the information requested.
Letter from Mike Isaac to Mr. Frank Field, dated 4 November 2004:
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently on leave I am replying on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will place in the Library a copy of the EDS contract for the Child Support Agency's new IT system.
The EDS contract is commercially sensitive and is accordingly regarded as confidential to the parties involved in it. This is in line with Paragraph 13, Part 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) shortest, (b) average and (c) longest time taken to process a Child Support Agency case from when the application is made to closure or the payment of maintenance to the parent with care was in the last period for which figures are available. [194278]
Mr. Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my right hon. Friend with the information requested.
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Frank Field, dated 4 November 2004:
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, what the (a) shortest (b) average and (c) longest time taken to process a Child Support Agency case from when the application is made to closure or the payment of maintenance to the parent with care was in the last period for which figures are available.
I am unable to provide the information that you have requested because we do not collect or hold it in this way.
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost of the new computer system for the Child Support Agency is to date. [194627]
Mr. Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Nigel Dodds, dated 4 November 2004:
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, what the total cost of the new computer system for the Child Support Agency is to date?
Between 3rd March 2003 and 19th September 2004, EDS were paid £62.08 million. In that period the Agency retained £12.1 million because of performance problems.
Next Section | Index | Home Page |