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15 Nov 2004 : Column 1187W—continued
Carer's Allowance
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to end the treatment of carers allowance as earnings in the assessment of claimants of income support; and if he will make a statement. [196906]
Maria Eagle: Carer's allowance is not treated as earnings. However it is treated as an income in determining a customer's entitlement to income support. There are no plans to change this.
Carer's allowance is an income-maintenance benefit rather than a payment for services provided by the carer. Income support is also a benefit which is intended to provide for a person's day-to-day living expenses. For this reason, carer's allowance has always been taken fully into account in income support. To do otherwise would mean that provision would be made twice over from public funds for the same needs.
However, people in receipt of income support who are also receiving carer's allowance or who have an underlying entitlement to carer's allowance, are awarded a carer premium with their income support. The premium is paid in addition to other premiums, and, where both the claimant and their partner satisfy the conditions, two carer premiums are paid. The carer premium is currently £25.55 per week.
Child Maintenance
Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his written statement of 28 October 2004, Official Report, columns 55–57WS, on the New Child Support Scheme: Progress Report, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the fall in the number of applications for child maintenance received by the Child Support Agency in the second quarter of 2004. [197355]
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 Mike Isaac to Helen Jackson, dated 15 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, pursuant to his Written Statement of 28th October Official Report columns 55–57WS on the New Child Support Scheme: Progress Report what assessment he has made for the reasons for the fall in the number of applications for child maintenance received by the Child Support Agency in the second quarter of 2004.
I am unaware of any specific factors to explain the decrease in the reported number of new applications received by the Agency during the second quarter of 2004/05.
Child Poverty
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what strategy he has put in place to tackle child poverty. [197466]
15 Nov 2004 : Column 1188W
Mr. Pond: The Government's strategy for tackling child poverty is set out in "Opportunity for all: Sixth Annual Report 2004" (Cm6239) which we published in September 2004 and further explored in the "Child Poverty Review", published in July 2004 by The Treasury. Both documents are available in the Library.
Child Support Agency
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the average weekly maintenance (a) assessments and (b) payments for (i) one qualifying child, (ii) two qualifying children and (iii) three or more qualifying children for Child Support Agency cases on the (A) old and (B) new system. [193665]
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 15 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, if he will estimate the average weekly maintenance (a) assessments and (b) payments for (i) one qualifying child, (ii) two qualifying children and (iii) three or more qualifying children for cases on the (A) old and (B) new system.
The information requested is set out in the following tables. I should, however, say that the information is not directly comparable because of discrepancies in the way it is collected and collated for the different schemes—which are, of course, based on different computer systems. Our current best view of the position is:
| Average weekly amount assessed | One qualifying child | Two qualifying children | Three or more qualifying children |
|---|---|---|---|
| New scheme | 24 | 37 | 41 |
| Old scheme | 40 | 50 | 53 |
The above figures exclude cases with a nil assessment but include those cases were the non-resident parent is on benefit, and on which maintenance would consequently be collected on behalf of the Secretary of State.
The differences between the average weekly assessments for the old and new scheme was anticipated in the Government's White Paper, "A new contract for welfare: Children's Rights and Parent's responsibilities", published in July 1999.
| Average weekly payments | One qualifying child | Two qualifying children | Three or more qualifying children |
|---|---|---|---|
| New scheme | 34 | 47 | 56 |
| Old scheme | 37 | 46 | 50 |
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Child Support Agency cases are waiting to be calculated and paid on the (a) old scheme calculation and old IT system, (b) old scheme calculation and new IT system and (c) new scheme calculation and new IT system. [194276]
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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 Mike Isaac to Mr. Frank Field, dated 15 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 Child Support Agency cases are waiting to be calculated and paid on the (a) old scheme calculation and old IT system (b) old scheme calculation and new IT system and (c) new scheme calculation and new IT system.
As at 30 September 2004, there were around 288,000 applications awaiting a decision to be made—these may or may not result in a maintenance assessment. Of these applications:
Of the work in hand we are trying to trace the non-resident parent in approximately 20,000 cases, which cannot be progressed until we have an address. There is also an element of new intake that has not had sufficient time since the application was made to have progressed.
Typically around 40% of the cases will be closed before reaching the assessment stage. Applications close for a variety of reasons. The main reasons are that the parent with care withdraws the application, perhaps due to a reconciliation, or having agreed private arrangements with the non-resident parent.
The reference to the new IT system includes cases that, in the normal course of events would be held on that system but are instead being processed clerically.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2004, Official Report, column 289W, on the Child Support Agency, for what reasons referrals for information to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency were unsuccessful in gaining the information sought. [194657]
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 15 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 his Answer of the 13 October, Official Report, column 289W, on the Child Support Agency, for what reasons referrals for information to the DVLA were unsuccessful in gaining the information sort.
The reason that the balance of referrals were unsuccessful is that there was no matching client and vehicular details held on the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency's database.
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect of change requests made by Ministers in relation to the CS2 computer system on the operations of the Child Support Agency. [195809]
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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 Mike Isaac to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 15 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, what assessment he has made of the effect of change requests made by Ministers in relation to the CS2 computer system on the operation of the Childs Support Agency.
All requests for change go through a rigorous process intended to give assurance that they are genuinely needed to permit the service provided by EDS to meet the original requirement in terms of reliability and functionality.
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average number of Child Support Agency staff who deal with each case brought to the Agency by parents with care. [195815]
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 Mike Isaac to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 15 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, what estimate he has made of the average number of Child Support Agency staff who deal with each case brought to them by parents with care.
I am unable to answer this question as we do not record information on the numbers of staff who deal with each case.
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) absence rates due to sickness and (b) turnover rates for Child Support Agency staff were for each month of the last calendar year. [195821]
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 Mike Isaac to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 15 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, what the (a) absence rates due to sickness and (b) turnover rates for CSA staff were for each month of the last calendar year.
(a) Absence rates due to sickness for CSA staff for each month of the last calendar year are as follows:
| 2003 | Sickness percentage rate (in month) |
|---|---|
| January | 5.9 |
| February | 5.2 |
| March | 4.9 |
| April | 5.4 |
| May | 5.3 |
| June | 5.7 |
| July | 6.2 |
| August | 6.3 |
| September | 6.5 |
| October | 6.8 |
| November | 7.1 |
| December | 6.5 |
15 Nov 2004 : Column 1191W
(62) Monthly leavers shown as a percentage of the staff in post for that calendar month.
Anne Picking: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many non-resident parents are losing money as a result of not being transferred to the new Child Support Agency computing system. [195889]
Mr. Pond: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr. Goodman) on 18 December 2003, Official Report, columns 1089–90W.
Anne Picking: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much maintenance in total was received through the Child Support Agency by the child and resident parent in the financial years (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03. [195890]
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 Mike Isaac to Anne Picking, dated 15 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, how much maintenance was received through the Child Support Agency by the child and resident parent in the financial years (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03.
| 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid to the Parent with Care | 375,199 | 423,680 |
| Recovered for the Secretary of State | 153,251 | 148,861 |
| Was received in Total | 528,450 | 572,541 |
Sources:
The Total received is published in the Child Support Agency, Annual Report and Accounts.
The amount paid to the Parent with Care and the amount recovered for the Secretary of State is sourced from the Agency's General Ledger.
15 Nov 2004 : Column 1192W
Anne Picking: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the administrative cost of running the Child Support Agency was in financial years (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03. [195891]
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 Mike Isaac to Anne Picking, dated 15 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, what the administrative cost of running the Child Support Agency was in the financial years (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03.
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his written ministerial statement of 28 October 2004, Official Report, columns 55–57WS, on the new child support scheme progress report, what the average weekly child support maintenance payment to parents with care for the month of October is; how many new scheme cases were not able to be progressed under the new system with respect to Quarter 4 2003–04 onwards and schemes to date; if he will list the reasons for the closure of applications; when the Child Support Agency (CSA) will start properly to manage performance in the area of compliance; and what the fundamentals of the special exercise to be employed to determine the CSA's achievement of its accuracy target at the end of March 2005 are. [196267]
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 Mike Isaac to Ms Annabelle Ewing, dated 15 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, pursuant to his Written Ministerial Statement of 28th October Official Report columns 55–57WS on the new child support scheme progress report what the average weekly child support maintenance payment to parents with care for the month of October is; how many new scheme cases were not able to be progressed under the new system with respect to Quarter 4 2003–04 onwards and schemes to date; if he will list the reasons for the closure of applications; when the Child Support Agency (CSA) will start properly to manage performance In the area of compliance; and what the fundamentals of the special exercise to be employed to determine the CSA's achievement of its accuracy target at the end of March 2005 are.
I am unable to provide the average weekly child support maintenance for October at this present time. However, I can provide the figures for September:
| One qualifying child | 33.72 |
| Two qualifying children | 46.76 |
| Three qualifying children | 55.67 |
The information below shows the number of stuck cases that relate to our top ten most problematic classifications:
Applications close for a variety of reasons the main reason being that the parent with care withdraws the application, perhaps due to reconciliation, or having agreed private arrangements with the non-resident parent. Other reasons are if the parent with care moves off benefit and no longer wishes to pursue the application, or if the parent with care is unable to provide sufficient information to establish the identity of the non resident patent.
The Agency now has the management information available from its new computer system to monitor its performance in respect of case and cash compliance on the 'new scheme'. We have developed our own payment tracking tool which will enable us to better manage our performance in this area. We are already seeing emerging evidence that performance is improving as a result of these initiatives.
In February and March 2005 a special exercise will measure a statistically valid sample of cases. This will determine the extent to which the last decision for all maintenance calculations is correct to the nearest penny.
Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the proposed changes to the Child Support Agency service in Workington have been subject to rural proofing. [196382]
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 Mike Isaac to Mr. Tony Cunningham dated 15 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. I am providing this in Mr. Smith's absence.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the proposed changes to the Child Support Agency service in Workington have been subject to rural proofing.
The Agency has considered the rural proofing checklist and is content that the proposed changes to our service in Workington meet the challenges listed. Although we will no longer have face to face staff actually based in Workington we will continue to deliver equivalent levels of service to the rest of the country by staff based elsewhere.
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