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19 Jan 2006 : Column 1553W—continued

Child Maintenance

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much child maintenance outstanding from 1993–94 to 2004–05 from non-resident parents with cases with the Child Support Agency resulted from (a) full maintenance assessments and maintenance calculations where the outstanding amount is deemed to be possibly uncollectable or collectable, (b) full maintenance assessments and maintenance calculations where the outstanding amount is deemed probably uncollectable, (c) interim maintenance assessments where the outstanding amount is deemed to be possibly uncollectable or collectable and (d) interim maintenance assessments where the outstanding amount is deemed to be probably uncollectable; and what proportion of each category of debt has been recovered. [27502]

Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 11 November 2005]: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the right hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 19 January 2006:

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 much child maintenance outstanding from 1993–94 to 2004–05 from non-resident parents with cases with the Child Support Agency resulted from (a) full maintenance assessments and maintenance calculations where the outstanding amount is deemed to be possibly uncollectable or collectable, (b) full maintenance assessments and maintenance calculations where the outstanding amount is deemed probably uncollectable, (c)interim maintenance assessments where the outstanding amount is deemed to be possibly uncollectable or collectable and
 

19 Jan 2006 : Column 1554W
 

(d) interim maintenance assessments where the outstanding amount is deemed to be probably uncollectable; and what proportion of each category of debt has been recovered.

The tables provided show Agency debt from 1994–1995 to 2004–2005 split by collectability and assessment type. These are cumulative figures representing debt arising from the respective year and all previous years as no debt has ever been written off by the Agency.

As reported in the 2004/05 annual report, the Agency updated the classification criteria used to analyse debt. This was to reflect improved management information around the recoverability of debt, resulting in more debt being classified as collectable. The outstanding amounts will be pursued vigorously through the Enforcement Directorate.

The Agency currently receives over £585 million maintenance per year however there is still a culture surrounding its activities whereby some non-resident parents perceive it as acceptable not to comply with the Agency and make their maintenance payments. The Agency has therefore begun to take steps to tackle this issue.

Debt has been increasing year on year because many non-resident parents actively avoid their obligations for example by changing jobs when the Agency imposes enforcement action on them or changing addresses whenever the Agency locates them. The Agency recognises that it needs to make more use of its powers of enforcement, and has started to take steps to do this, however this is constrained by the requirements of the legal process and dependent on decisions made by the courts.

A dedicated Enforcement Directorate has been set up to focus on the collection of debt from the more difficult cases and the Agency is aggressively pursuing non-compliant clients more pro-actively than in the past. The directorate's aims are also to change the culture to one where it is not acceptable to deliberately avoid payment of maintenance.

The creation of the Enforcement Directorate has already improved the Agency's enforcement performance and effectiveness with improved outcomes at the more routine stages of enforcement for example, bailiff action, third party debt orders and charging orders.

The number of liability orders granted is improving with more than 4,500 liability orders being granted already this financial year. Also this year the amount collected by bailiff teams has doubled to £3 million and the Agency has achieved successful outcomes in increasing numbers of committal actions. In addition, the directorate has achieved collections of £8.39 million from April to November 2005, with November achieving the highest in month collections of £1.42 million.

The actions outlined above should therefore start to reduce the historic debt levels and improve compliance.

The achievements are modest in the context of the total debt but demonstrate that more focussed enforcement action can be successful. I have also made recommendations to Ministers on further improving enforcement following my review of the operations of the Agency.

I hope you find this response helpful.

Child maintenance outstanding as reported in annual report and accounts £ million

Cumulative Agency Debt position at year end 2004–05	Full maintenance assessment	Maintenance calculation	Interim maintenance assessment	Default maintenance decision
Collectable	459.19	88.9	78.5	11.2
Possibly uncollectable	290.24	n/a	309.30	n/a
Probably uncollectable	1,017.26	28.5	938.66	n/a
Deferred	30.83	n/a	0.17	n/a
Total	1,797.52	117.40	1,326.63	11.20

 
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Maintenance collected as reported in the annual report and accounts £ million

Sums received	Full maintenance assessments	Maintenance calculations	Interim maintenance assessments	Default maintenance assessments	Total
2004–05	482.70	93.02	8.78	0.91	585.41
2003–04	549.14	18.89	11.96	0.28	580.27
2002–03	558.57	n/a	13.98	n/a	572.55
2001–02	513.93	n/a	14.52	n/a	528.45
2000–01	483.84	n/a	18.71	n/a	502.55
1999–2000	437.25	n/a	23.43	n/a	460.68
1998–99	370.08	n/a	22.30	n/a	392.38
1997–98	286.48	n/a	19.68	n/a	306.16
1996–97	201.41	n/a	11.80	n/a	213.21
1995–96	127.73	n/a	6.72	n/a	134.45
1994–95	74.20	n/a	—	n/a	74.20

n/a=Not available.
Notes:
1.The annual report and accounts for previous years were re-published in 1997–98, due to a change in accounting policy in reporting collectability of the debt. Also, the Agency did not publish audited accounts in 1993–94; and no figures are therefore shown for this year.
2.The new scheme was launched on 3 March 2003, and (monies from new scheme cases and default maintenance decisions) began to accrue in the 2002–03. Information is provided from this date.
3.The Deferred" figures represent arrears maintenance that the Agency has agreed not to collect from non-resident parents because the Agency was wholly or partly responsible for the build-up of those arrears.
4.Full maintenance assessments and interim maintenance assessments include new and old scheme cases. Maintenance calculated and default maintenance decisions are new scheme only.
5.The Agency is unable to provide the proportion recovered for each debt category. The principle behind the recoverability of debt as reported in the annual report and accounts is based on a sample of cases examined as part of a National Audit Office approved annual debt analysis exercise.

Child Support Agency

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many requests for information Child Support Agency staff may make to the DVLA each month; how many requests were made in each month since 2001; and what the average time taken to respond was. [30002]

Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Hilary Reynolds, dated 19 January 2006:

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 Stephen Geraghty is on leave I am replying on his behalf.

You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests for information Child Support Agency staff may make to the DVLA each month; how many requests were made in each month since 2001; and what the average time taken to respond was.

Under the terms of the July 2002 Service Level Agreement, the Child Support Agency may issue up to 70 requests for information from the DVLA per calendar month (840 per year) nationally.

The Agency holds robust data on the number of requests for information issued to the DVLA for each month since 1stDecember 2003:

	Number
2003
December 2003	29
2004
January	48
February	54
March	60
April	56
May	52
June	48
July	47
August	54
September	44
October	39
November	52
December	45
2005
January	47
February	46
March	45
April	47
May	41
June	60
July	41
August	33
September	55
October	45

 
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We can also say with accuracy that a total of 871 requests for information were issued to the DVLA in the period from 1st April 2002 to 30th November 2003, although we cannot break this down on a monthly basis.

We do not currently have robust information on volumes of requests issued to the DVLA earlier than April 2002.

The average time taken to obtain a response from the DVLA is not available, but under the terms of the Service Level Agreement requests for information from the Child Support Agency should be returned within 10 working days of their receipt by the DVLA. The table below outlines the current success rate achieved against that target in the current financial year:

	Percentage
2005
April	90
May	66
June	40
July	71
August	82
September	87
October	100

I hope you find this information useful.

 
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Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of cases on the Child Support Agency old scheme have been reassessed in the last three years. [30004]

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

Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 19 January 2006:

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 proportion of cases on the Child Support Agency old scheme have been reassessed in the last three years.

The information requested is not available.

I am sorry I can't be more helpful at this time.

Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what contingency plans he has prepared in relation to computer systems used by the Child Support Agency; [30018]

(2) by what date he will decide whether to cease using the new computer system provided by EDS to assess Child Support Agency cases; and if he will make a statement. [30023]

Mr. Plaskitt: We recognise that there are ongoing problems with the service delivered to clients of the Child Support Agency via the computer system. These are unacceptable and we continue to work closely with EDS to effect improvement.

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Scotland have been non-compliant with their Child Support Agency assessment in each quarter since the first quarter of 1996. [31129]

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, dated 19 January 2006:

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 people in Scotland have been non-compliant with their Child Support Agency assessment in each quarter since the first quarter of 1996.

Such information as is available is set out in the attached table.

The information requested cannot be extracted for new scheme cases and old scheme cases on the new computer system in Scotland for the period March 2003 to the present. Therefore the table refers to old scheme cases prior to the introduction of the new scheme.

It should be noted that whilst the number of non compliant cases increased by two thousand between February 1996 and February 2003, the overall caseload also increased over the same period. The compliance rate in reality increased over this time from 58 to 76 per cent.

I hope you find this information helpful.

 
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Number of non compliant Child Support Agency collection service cases in Scotland, in each quarter from February 1996 to February 2003

	Non compliant cases
February 1996	7,000
May 1996	6,000
August 1996	7,000
November 1996	7,000
February 1997	7,000
May 1997	7,000
August 1997	6,000
November 1997	6,000
February 1998	6,000
May 1998	7,000
August 1998	8,000
November 1998	8,000
February 1999	9,000
May 1999	7,000
August 1999	9,000
November 1999	10,000
February 2000	10,000
May 2000	10,000
August 2000	10,000
November 2000	11,000
February 2001	12,000
May 2001	12,000
August 2001	12,000
November 2001	13,000
February 2002	12,000
May 2002	10,000
August 2002	9,000
November 2002	8,000
February 2003	9,000

Notes:
1.Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.
2.Compliance is defined as all those cases which are open and have paid money via the collection service in Scotland over the preceding quarter.
3.The table only includes old scheme cases with a full maintenance assessment. Those with a punitive interim maintenance assessment are excluded from this analysis, in line with the Agency's target definition.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what use has been made by the Child Support Agency of (a) attachment of earnings orders, (b) withdrawal of driving licences and (c) other enforcement powers in each of the last three years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of tagging absentparents failing to pay monies owed for their children. [41106]

Mr. Plaskitt: The Child Support Agency does not use attachment of earnings orders; the child support legislation allows for a deduction from earnings order (DEO) to be made.

The following table below shows the number of cases with a DEO as a method of maintenance collection in the particular month stated. This table also shows the percentage of cases this affects.

Month	Cases with DEO as a method of maintenance collection	Percentage of cases with DEO as a method of collection
November 2002	134,000	24
November 2003	—	—
November 2004	131,000	22
September 2005	147,000	22

Notes:
1.Numbers include deduction from earnings requests (DER's), which are issued when the non-resident parent is in the armed forces.
2.Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.
3.Robust information covering the period May 2003 to February 2004 is not currently available.
4.The number of cases includes those old scheme cases with a full maintenance assessment, and those new scheme cases with either a full maintenance calculation, or a default maintenance decision. Old scheme cases with a punitive interim maintenance assessment (an imposed assessment due to the non co-operation of the non-resident parent), a small number of which would have deductions from earnings orders in place, are excluded from this analysis in line with the Agency's target definitions, as are new scheme cases being processed clerically. There are also currently around 5,000 cases for which the method of payment is unknown, some of which could be DEOs.




 
19 Jan 2006 : Column 1559W
 

Committal to prison or disqualification from holding a driving license are enforcement sanctions used as a last resort by the agency when all other enforcement measures have failed. The court will decide which of the sanctions is the most appropriate.

The following table shows the committal to prison and disqualification from driving outcomes in Great Britain.
Number

	Suspended committal sentence	Committal sentence	Driving licence—suspended sentence	Driving licence—disqualified
2003–04	95	8	9	1
2004–05	224	8	31	5
November 2005–06	212	8	13	4
Total	531	24	53	10

The following table shows the number of litigation cases instigated in England and Wales.
Number

	County court judgements	Bailiffs	Third party debt orders	Charging orders
2003–04	513	3062	1395	922
2004–05	1180	4446	1292	851
November 2005–06	1348	4962	1132	878
Total	3041	12470	3819	2651

The following table shows the number of litigation cases instigated in Scotland.
Number

	Arrestments	Attachments	Attached goods auction	Letters of inhibition
2003–04	768	81	4	102
2004–05	457	115	2	232
November 2005–06 323		97	2	331
Total	1548	293	8	665

We have made no estimation of the cost of tagging.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what targets his Department has for improvement in customer perception of the performance of the Child Support Agency; and if he will make a statement. [41333]

 
19 Jan 2006 : Column 1560W
 

Mr. Plaskitt: Ministers will set targets for 2006–07 which will be aimed at ensuring real, sustained progress towards performance improvements and delivery.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidelines are given to staff at the Child Support Agency in relation to the circumstances in which deduction of earnings orders can be imposed; and if he will make a statement. [41371]

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, dated 19 January 2006:

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 guidelines are given to staff at the Child Support Agency in relation to the circumstances in which deduction of earnings orders can be imposed; and if he will make a statement.

A deduction from earnings order is a method of enforcement action to be used on non-resident parents in employment if there is an indication that payment will not be made or when payment breaks down. The law does not require the Agency to repeatedly warn clients or wait for a history of non-payment to emerge.

Child Support Agency staff are advised of the action to take in cases where a deduction from earnings order is appropriate in on-line procedural guidance, Adviceline bulletins and through training. They are asked to consider imposing a deduction from earnings order on a case if any of the following situations arise:

Other methods of payment have been ineffective with payments late, missed or partial.

The non-resident parent fails to respond to arrears notices, warning letters or calls.

The Agency holds a confident employer details for the non-resident parent.

The non-resident parent voluntarily requests payment direct from earnings.

Our staff are advised that whether or not a deduction from earnings order can be imposed depends upon the type of income the non-resident parent is receiving. I have listed below a summary of the additional scenarios that should be taken into account before a deduction from earnings order is imposed:

The non-resident parent has two or more employers

The non-resident parent is not classed as employed.

The non-resident parent is self-employed

The non-resident parent is in receipt of Statutory Sick Pay

The non-resident parent is in receipt of Statutory Maternity Pay,

The non-resident parent is in receipt of Statutory Redundancy Pay.

The non-resident parent is the subject of Sequestration (in Scotland).

The non-resident parent's employer is outside of Child Support Agency jurisdiction.

I hope you find this helpful.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether it is his policy that there will be no major reductions in front line staffing at the Child Support Agency; and if he will make a statement. [41385]

Mr. Plaskitt: As stated in the Government response to the Work and Pensions Select Committee report on 24 March 2005, there will be no major reductions in front line staffing until the new computer system is working effectively.
 
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Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will publish the assessment of the Child Support Agency's business transformation plan made by the new chief executive; and if he will make a statement. [41400]

Mr. Plaskitt: We have received the report from the chief executive and we are considering the findings. The Secretary of State will make an announcement on child support shortly.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what action he is taking to strengthen the Child Support Agency's powers to require non-resident parents to provide information on their current address and employment details; and if he will make a statement. [41545]

Mr. Plaskitt: It is a criminal offence, under Section14A of the Child Support Act, for not supplying information to the Agency when requested to do so or by knowingly providing false information. This offence currently carries a maximum £1,000 fine.

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how the Child Support Agency has responded to representations to it from men who were deemed to be fathers without care but subsequently proved not to be the father for compensation or interest on the sums taken from them in addition to reimbursement of the sum itself; and if he will make a statement. [42683]

Mr. Plaskitt: If maintenance has already been paid bythe alleged non-resident parent when he is found not to be the father, he will receive a refund of any maintenance paid.

Compensation or interest would not normally be paid in addition unless there has been maladministration on the part of the Agency. Each case is considered on its merits.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost has been of running the Child Support Agency including all capital costs, in each year since 1994–95; and if he will make a statement. [21433]

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, dated 19 January, 2006:

You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total cost has been of running the Child Support Agency including all capital costs in each year since 1994–95. The information that you requested is in the following table:

£ million

	Net administration costs	Capital expenditure	Maintenance paid
1994–95	192.393	1.993	82.4
1995–96	199.268	1.880	128.63
1996–97	224.525	3.937	207.75
1997–98	225.942	1.375	298.80
1998–99	231.174	2.458	389.96
1999–2000	260.333	4.310	457.44
2000–01	250.046	1.423	498.86
2001–02	290.413	0.247	526.80
2002–03	294.286	1.467	570.69
2003–04	322.983	0.517	580.09
2004–05	325.619	0.457	583.15

 
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Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in how many Child Support Agency cases which have gone to court those paying maintenance have been ordered to make repayments over a period of longer than 16 years. [26099]

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 Stephen Geraghty, dated 19 January 2006:

In reply to your recent Parliamentary 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 in how many Child Support Agency cases which have gone to court those paying maintenance have been ordered to make repayments over a period of longer than 16 years.

I am not able to provide this information as the Agency does not hold data that can identify what repayment arrangements have been ordered by the courts. I am sorry I could not be more helpful.

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