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12 Sept 2005 : Column 2494W—continued

Benefit fraud

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of benefit fraud he estimates to be due to identity fraud, broken down by benefit; and if he will make a statement. [2080]

Mr. Timms: Identity-related benefit fraud costs the Department £20 to £50 million annually. This broad estimate is derived mainly from national data produced by our regional benefit review process, which, by examining a percentage of cases is designed to uncover fraud and error in the most vulnerable, income-related, benefits. As we estimate that about £1.5 billion a year is lost through benefit fraud, our figures for identity fraud represent between 1 to 3 percent. of this total.

We are not able to provide a breakdown by benefit but our evidence suggests that the problem is concentrated mainly in the income-related benefits.

Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of calls made to the benefit fraud hotline led to (a) investigation and (b) conviction of individuals named by callers in the last year for which figures are available. [8194]

Mr. Timms: The information is in the table.
Proportion of calls made to the National Benefit Fraud Hotline between April 2004 and March 2005 that resulted in convictions and referral for investigation.

Calls made (number)	278,513
Calls answered (number)	199,004
Referrals for investigation as a proportion of calls made (percentage)	39.46
Convictions as a proportion of calls made (percentage)	0.23

Source:
National Benefit Fraud Hotline

Benefit Receipt (Scotland)

Mr. Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Scotland and (b) the Lanark and Hamilton East constituency are in receipt of (i) severe disability allowance, (ii) widows benefit, (iii) housing benefit, (iv) council tax benefit, (v) pension credit and (vi) income support; and if he will make a statement. [14058]

Mr. Timms: The information in respect of Scotland is given in the following table. The information is not currently available in respect of the new constituency of Lanark and Hamilton East, but should become available towards the end of this year.
 
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Claimants of severe disablement allowance, incapacity benefit, widows benefit, housing benefit, council tax benefit, pension credit and income support in Scotland

Benefit	Date	Claimants
Severe disablement allowance	February 2005	33,800
Incapacity benefit	February 2005	281,500
Income support	February 2005	229,100
Housing benefit	February 2005	446,600
Council tax benefit	February 2005	545,000
Widows benefit	September 2004	16,100
Pension credit	March 2005	280,795

Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred, apart from that for pension credit which has been rounded to the nearest five.
2. Severe disablement allowance, incapacity benefit, income support and widows benefit are based on 5 per cent. samples and are subject to sampling variation.
Housing benefit, council tax benefit and pension credit are based on 100 per cent. caseloads.
3. Government Office Region is assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS Postcode Directory.
4. Housing benefit/council tax benefit figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated.
5. Council tax benefit totals exclude any second adult rebate cases.
6. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases.
7. Pension credit figures are taken from the Generalised Matching Service (GMS) 100 per cent. scans taken on the 18 March and have been rated up to give month-end estimates.
8. Severe disablement allowance/incapacity benefit figures include credits only cases.
Source:
Information Directorate, Department for Work and Pensions, 5 per cent. and 100 per cent. samples
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count taken in February 2005

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) total and (b) change in the number of people claiming each state benefit has been for each Scottish constituency, since 2001. [14904]

Mr. Plaskitt: Housing benefit, council tax benefit, and maternity benefit figures are not available at parliamentary constituency level. The available information has been placed in the Library.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions the Health and Safety Executive has had with the emergency services about co-ordinating investigations when carbon monoxide poisoning is suspected. [14787]

Mr. Plaskitt: The Work-Related Deaths Protocol (WRDP) sets out the principles for liaison between the investigating authorities in relation to all work-related deaths in England and Wales. Additionally, its associated Investigators Guide" includes practical guidance for dealing with domestic gas incidents. In March 2005, HSE issued through the WRDP's network of regional groups, revised guidance on the role of gas suppliers' investigators and revised arrangements for carrying out simulation tests.
 
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Carer's Allowance

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many pensioners (a) are receiving payment of carer's allowance and (b) have an underlying entitlement to carer's allowance; [10143]

(2) in what circumstances pensioners are entitled to carer's allowance; and what measures are in place to ensure that those pensioners are informed of their entitlement. [10144]

Mrs. McGuire: In October 2002, we removed the upper age limit on claims to carer's allowance so that people of state pension age can qualify for the benefit on exactly the same basis as people of working age.

As at 28 February 2005, the latest date for which information is available, about 24,360 people of state pension age were receiving carer's allowance. A further 218,710 had claimed and qualified for the allowance, but were not receiving it because of the operation of the overlapping benefit rules ¹ . Pensioners on a low income who hold an entitlement to carer's allowance can get extra help within pension credit which is currently worth up to £25.80 per week. As at February 2005 some 133,200 carers of state pension age were receiving this additional amount.

Information about carer's allowance is made available to carers via a wide variety of outlets—social security offices, Jobcentre Plus offices, Welfare Benefits offices, on-line at DWP websites and through various helplines. In addition, through its network of pension centres and its local service, the Pension Service considers the needs of all its customers and encourages them to take up the range of benefits, including carer's allowance, to which they may be entitled.

¹ Data source: DWP Information Directorate, 100 per cent. sample. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.

Child Support Agency

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average time taken to process new Child Support Agency claims in the last period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [976]

Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Mike Isaac to Mr. David Laws, dated 5 September 2005:

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 responding on his behalf.

You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average time taken to process new Child Support Agency claims in the last period for which figures are available.

The information you seek is not currently available with any level of accuracy as the Agency is progressively improving its management information systems. Whilst I am unable to provide a more up-to-date assessment currently, I expect that planned improvements in management information will allow me to do so in the coming months.

 
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Our previous Chief Executive Doug Smith, informed the Work and Pensions Select Committee on 17 November 2004 that the average time for handling a case, up to the stage where the maintenance assessment is calculated, was between 15 to 22 weeks.

I am sorry that we are not able to be more helpful at present.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what level of accuracy the Child Support Agency's checking teams have been assessed to have achieved on each separate occasion when they have been assessed; and what level of accuracy was achieved by the agency's front end staff; [5635]

(2) how often checks have been made on the accuracy of the Child Support Agency's checking teams. [5656]

Mr. Timms: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the requested information.

Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. David Laws, dated 5 September 2005:

In reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions 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 level of accuracy the Child Support Agency's checking teams have been assessed to have achieved on each separate occasion when they have been assessed; and what level of accuracy was achieved by the Agency's front end staff. You also asked, how often checks have been made on the accuracy of the Child Support Agency's checking teams.

The Agency's Secretary of State target for new scheme cases is that accuracy on the last decision for all maintenance calculations checked to be correct to the nearest penny in at least 90% of cases." For 2004/2005, the Agency reported 75% accuracy for new scheme cases and for 2005/2006, the year to date total for new scheme cases has increased to 82%.

For old scheme cases, the Agency's internal target is that accuracy on the last decision for all maintenance calculations checked to be correct to the nearest penny in at least 82% of cases." For 2004/2005, the Agency reported 78% accuracy for old scheme cases and for 2005/2006, the year to date total for old scheme cases is 77%.

The accuracy rate of child support assessments is determined by checks carried out by the Monitoring and Guidance Unit (MAGU). This unit was established as an independent body to monitor quality independent from the Agency. MAGU was audited by the Internal Assurance Service last year following their assessment of the 2003/2004 accuracy rate. As part of this validation process, 26 cases were selected at random per business unit (156 in total for the Agency). Internal Assurance Service concluded that they agreed with MAGU's findings, confirming the validity of their results. I am satisfied that the monitoring of cases undertaken by MAGU forms an appropriate independent assurance; their accuracy rate is therefore not checked on a regular basis.

Business units carry out a number of local checks, including accuracy, debt adjustment and closure. They are provided with a quota for each of these checks to determine the number to be done. These checks are not validated by MAGU. They provide the business with an assurance that these types of cases are being actioned correctly and that any incorrect practices can be addressed at a local level.

I hope that this reply has been useful.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what validation checks are performed each month on the (a) old and (b) new Child Support Agency computer system. [6196]

 
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Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. David Laws:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about what validation checks are performed each month on the (a) old and (b) new Child Support Agency computer system.

The Agency operates a dual approach to checking; establishing the performance of decision makers through mandatory business checks, and through validation checks.

The Agency operates a risk-based methodology for mandatory business checks. This is underpinned by a quota system, which is reviewed bi monthly to determine the volume of checks to be undertaken. The volume is derived from the amount of work actioned in business units and the level of accuracy achieved.

Last year the Agency undertook 37,895 checks on the old scheme cases and 23,226 checks on new scheme cases.

A minimum of 20 validation checks are undertaken every month in each business unit split equally between new and old scheme cases.

In addition to these checks the Agency's Monitoring and Guidance Unit undertakes an independent assessment of Agency accuracy, based on a random sample of 1,500 cases split across both the old and new scheme.

I hope you have found this answer useful.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many calls to the Child Support Agency have been abandoned by (a) Agency staff and (b) clients in each month since 2003. [8750]

Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. David Laws, dated 5 September 2005:

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 calls to the Child Support Agency have been abandoned by (a) Agency staff and (b) clients in each month since 2003.

The table below provides the number of calls abandoned by callers for the period April 2003 to May 2005. Generally, an abandoned call is where the caller hangs up before the call is answered. In CSA this is defined as before the call has been answered by either the National Helpline or a caseworker; and for CS2 clients, excludes those callers who hang-up during the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) process. To put these figures into perspective I have also provided the number of calls received in the same period. Agency staff cannot abandon calls.

Calendar month	Calls received	Calls abandoned by caller
April 2003	317,637	68,012
May 2003	439,891	102,292
June 2003	388,261	93,655
July 2003	420,005	106,604
August 2003	392,537	95,766
September 2003	478,207	147,505
October 2003	510,904	168,298
November 2003	421,273	110,241
December 2003	204,456	47,227
January 2004	454,029	137,896
February 2004	425,584	114,252
March 2004	520,791	145,586
April 2004	433,841	105,262
May 2004	392,694	65,084
June 2004	424,038	45,298
July 2004	408,863	52,156
August 2004	412,137	61,286
September 2004	491,625	102,607
October 2004	448,608	81,180
November 2004	459,991	59,094
December 2004	326,753	35,845
January 2005	451,661	71,119
February 2005	389,362	50,082
March 2005	424,345	65,252
April 2005	414,691	53,429
May 2005	381,609	36,611

 
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I hope you find this useful.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions in the last two years Child Support Agency maintenance payments have been erroneously paid to the parent with care instead of to him; how much these payments were for; and whether they were all recovered. [8752]

Mr. Plaskitt: The information requested is not available.

Payments could have been erroneously paid to the person with care instead of to the Secretary of State when the Child Support Agency believes the person with care is off benefit but they are actually on benefit. If the person with care fails to report receipt of this payment as an income, there would be an overpayment of benefit and this would have to be recovered. Child Support Agency do not hold records on how often this occurs or the amounts that are involved for this category of overpayment.

All overpayments of benefit are recovered via our debt management organisation. To be able to answer the question our records would have to be able to identify erroneous payments of maintenance as an overpayment cause. Unfortunately our systems do not capture data on this specific cause—they would be included in all records of overpayments caused by income.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of full-time equivalent Child Support Agency (CSA) staff are employed as frontline staff; how many staff were employed in March; what the staff turnover rate was in the latest period for which figures are available; how many staff (a) left the CSA and (b) went on leave in that period; and how many staff have been recruited since April 2003. [8867]

Mr. Timms: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Mike Isaac to Mr. David Laws, dated 5 September 2005:

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 responding on his behalf.

You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what percentage of full time equivalent Child Support
 

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Agency staff are employed as frontline staff; how many staff were employed in March; what the staff turnover rate was in the latest period for which figures are available; how many staff (a) left the Child Support Agency and (b) went on leave in that period; and how many staff have been recruited since April 2003.

In March 2005 the Child Support Agency employed 9784 full time equivalent staff; this figure does not include staff working in Northern Ireland who are employed by the Northern Ireland Civil Service. 75% of these staff work in frontline duties and the remainder are employed in frontline management and support functions or head quarters and support services.

In the period April 2003 to March 2004 the total turnover was 15% and between April 2004 to March 2005 17%. For the purpose of this response turnover has been taken to include all staff who joined or left the Agency in this period. Between April 2003 and March 2005 3398 full time equivalent staff left the Agency and 2290 full time equivalent staff were recruited. These figures include temporary staff.

All staff in the Agency have an annual entitlement to leave and are expected to use that entitlement over the course of the year. All staff should therefore have taken leave between April 2003 and March 2005.

I hope this answer is useful.

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what action he plans to take with the senior management of the Child Support Agency over the handling of the case of Simone Hampshire, a constituent of the hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey; [9818]

(2) for what reasons a reply has not been sent from the Child Support Agency to Simone Hampshire, a constituent of the hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, due on 8 June; [9820]

(3) what compensation he plans to offer to Simone Hampshire, a constituent of the hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, for losing her Child Support Agency case notes. [9821]

Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to my hon. Friend with the information requested.

Letter from Mike Isaac to Mr. Derek Wyatt, dated 5 September 2005:

In reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions 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 responding on his behalf.

You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what action he plans to take with the senior management of the Child Support Agency over the handling of the case of Simone Hampshire; why the reply from the Child Support Agency to Simone Hampshire due on the 8 June has not been forthcoming; and what compensation he plans to offer to Simone Hampshire for losing her Child Support Agency case notes.

As details about individual cases are confidential I have written to you separately about this case.

Derek Conway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of claimants who decline to identify the father of their child for Child Support Agency purposes. [11651]

Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
 
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Letter from Mike Isaac to Mr. Derek Conway:

You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of claimants who decline to identify the father of their child for Child Support Agency purposes.

Under the child support scheme that existed prior to March 2003, a parent with care was required to authorise the Secretary of State to pursue maintenance from the non-resident parent. Under the new scheme, where an application is made by a parent with care for Income Support or income based Jobseekers Allowance, this is also treated as an application for child maintenance. The
 

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parent with care is then required to supply the details of the non-resident parent. However, if there are reasonable grounds for believing that if they were to be required to comply there would be a risk to them or to any of their children living with them of harm or undue distress as a result, no further action will be taken. If there are no such grounds, withholding information can lead to a loss of benefit under a Reduced Benefit Direction.

The following table shows the number of cases for the last financial year broken down by good cause, applications and decisions. We are unable to identify the number of male parents with care included in these figures as the information is not recorded by gender.

	Total CSA interest cases claiming Good Cause referred for decision	Total number of Good Cause accepted	Total number of Good Cause not accepted	Total number of Reduced Benefit Directions imposed	Number of cases where maintenance application form subsequently completed	Number of Good Cause claims outstanding carried over each month
April 2004	2,629	966	1,084	878	1,131	4,244
May 2004	3,028	1,204	981	720	1,312	4,116
June 2004	3,895	1,323	1,120	974	1,756	3,884
July 2004	3,160	1,103	1,107	987	1,499	3,277
August 2004	2,938	901	1,139	957	1,189	3,735
September 2004	3,200	1,034	1,151	904	1,653	3,807
October 2004	3,240	1,163	1,102	909	1,503	3,839
November 2004	3,322	1,405	1,220	1,072	1,530	3,406
December 2004	2,978	989	983	792	1,091	3,870
January 2005	2,832	1,128	1,122	1,036	1,333	3,552
February 2005	3,309	1,164	1,068	1,057	1,326	3,605
March 2005	3,376	1,214	1,148	978	1,547	3,117
Total YTD	37,907	13,594	13,225	11,264	16,870	—

I hope this has been useful.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library the minutes of the Child Support Agency's Audit Committee for the last four years. [13550]

Mr. Plaskitt: The disclosure of this information is considered likely to prejudice the effective operation of the Child Support Agency's Audit Committee. The effectiveness of on-going reporting and management of identified risks and the open and free disclosures and discussions regarding Internal Audit findings would likely be inhibited. This would negatively impact the free and frank dialogue of the Audit Committee and ultimately the agency's ability to operate efficiently. There is a well established process of external audit by National Audit Office (NAO). Therefore, any audit issues that are of major concern or public interest are considered appropriately and reports are freely available.

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