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8 Feb 2007 : Column 1212W—continued

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many uncleared Child Support Agency applications there were in each month since May 1997, broken down by London borough; and if he will make a statement. [115978]

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 8 February 2007:

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 uncleared Child Support Agency applications there were in each month since May 1997 broken down by London borough; and if he will make a statement.

I am sorry that it is not possible to provide all the information you have requested as the computer system in use from 1993 does not hold data at the level of individual boroughs for uncleared cases. It is possible to provide data held on the new computer system introduced in March 2003 at the level you request and this is shown in the attached tables. However as the two computer systems continue to run in parallel, the information provided does not present a complete picture of the total number of uncleared cases by London borough, nor is it representative of trends over the period. For example, whilst the figures provided imply a significant increase in the volumes of uncleared cases by London borough, it should be remembered that the majority of cases at the beginning of the period were actually on the old scheme and the old computer system, and hence not covered in the attached table.

At a national level the total volume of uncleared applications was 334,500 in May 1999, the earliest month for which data is available, and this has fallen to 238,400 in December 2006. The Agency recognises that while the number of uncleared applications has fallen significantly, it remains unacceptably high, and our challenge, as set out in our Operational Improvement Plan, is that the Agency should not have a backlog in this area by March 2009.

I hope you find this answer helpful despite my being unable to answer your question in full.

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8 Feb 2007 : Column 1214W

Number of uncleared applications in each London borough (both new and old scheme applications on the new computer system only), from March 2003 to December 2006
	2003
	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
City of London	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Barking and Dagenham	10	30	40	80	160	190	220	250	280	340
Barnet	20	40	60	80	110	110	130	200	210	200
Bexley	20	30	60	80	110	130	140	180	210	230
Brent	10	10	30	40	70	100	160	220	260	280
Bromley	20	50	90	140	180	190	200	220	260	280
Camden	10	10	20	60	110	140	160	180	210	220
Croydon	30	70	120	170	260	280	330	370	440	500
Ealing	10	30	70	100	150	180	230	270	310	320
Enfield	20	30	50	90	140	160	190	260	300	330
Greenwich	20	40	60	90	140	170	210	290	340	380
Hackney	20	20	40	50	70	80	100	130	240	240
Hammersmith and Fulham	10	20	40	70	110	130	170	190	210	230
Haringey	10	30	60	130	200	250	280	320	380	400
Harrow	10	20	30	40	60	80	90	140	160	160
Havering	20	40	60	70	100	130	130	150	180	180
Hillingdon	20	30	40	50	100	110	140	170	190	220
Hounslow	20	40	70	80	130	170	210	230	250	260
Islington	10	20	30	60	90	110	130	140	180	180
Kensington and Chelsea	0	10	30	40	70	80	100	110	140	140
Kingston upon Thames	10	20	30	40	40	50	50	70	70	70
Lambeth	20	70	120	160	270	330	370	450	550	590
Lewisham	20	60	120	150	230	260	300	340	400	410
Merton	10	20	40	70	100	120	130	150	170	180
Newham	10	30	60	90	180	210	250	320	400	410
Redbridge	20	20	40	60	60	80	100	110	140	160
Richmond upon Thames	10	20	30	40	60	60	70	70	60	70
Southwark	10	70	100	160	250	280	310	370	450	470
Sutton	10	30	40	60	90	100	120	130	160	170
Tower Hamlets	10	30	50	60	120	140	140	160	170	180
Waltham Forest	20	40	50	60	70	90	120	160	190	200
Wandsworth	20	50	80	100	150	170	190	250	300	340
Westminster	0	10	20	60	90	110	140	160	180	180
London total	460	1,030	1,750	2,590	4,050	4,770	5,570	6,740	7,960	8,500

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