| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
10 May 2007 : Column 464W—continued
Work and Pensions
Child Support
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of non-resident parents were (a) nil compliant and (b) partially compliant with their child support payments in each month since the Child Support Agency introduced its operational improvement plan. [129819]
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 10 May 2007:
In reply to your 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 and what proportion of non-resident parents were (a) nil compliant and (b) partially compliant with their child support payments in each month since the Child Support Agency introduced its operational improvement plan.
The Agency introduced its Operational Improvement Plan in March 2006.
The information requested is provided in the attached table, in which nil and partially compliant cases are expressed as a proportion of all cases with an assessment or a calculation.
It should be noted that the proportion of cases in which maintenance was due that have a positive maintenance outcome has increased from 59% to 61% over the same period, resulting in an extra 33,000 children benefiting either from maintenance direct arrangements or from money received via the Agency's collection service
| The volumes and proportions of nil and partially compliant cases relative to all cases with a positive liability, between March 2006 and December 2006, measured over the three month periods ending in the months shown | ||||
| Nil compliant | Partial compliant | |||
| Quarter ending: | Volume | Proportion (%) | Volume | Proportion (%) |
| Notes: 1. A case is classified as nil compliant at the end of a three month period if it was open and classed as a collection service case at the end of the period, and within the period money was charged on the case but no money was collected via the collection service. 2. A case is classified as partially compliant at the end of a three month period if it was open and classed as a collection service case at the end of the period, and within the period money was charged on the case and some, but not all, of the money charged was collected via the collection service. 3. Compliance is calculated over three month periods ending in the months shown. 4. New scheme cases being processed clerically are excluded from the table. 5. Volumes are rounded to the nearest one hundred. | ||||
Personal Income
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library the £10 band income distribution data used to produce the income distribution for the total population graphs in households below average income for each year of the Family Resources Survey; and if he will also provide the corresponding datasets for (a) children, (b) working age adults and (c) pensioner sub-groups. [131317]
Mr. Jim Murphy [holding answer 16 April 2007]: The information requested is not available for 2005-06 as the Households Below Average Income 2005-06 release is currently being revised. The new release will be available from mid-May. The data requested will be placed in the Library after the new release is published.
The Secretary of State made a written statement to Parliament on 23 April 2007, Official Report, column 20WS, on why the statistics are being revised.
Poverty: Children
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to engage parents, local authorities and private sector organisations in discussions on child poverty, as proposed in the Working for Children Report published by his Department. [131826]
Mr. Jim Murphy: In developing our employment programs and formulating our strategy for reducing child poverty, the Department for Work and Pensions has worked closely with a range of partners. As stated in the Working for Children report, it is important that we continue to do so. In addition to regular ministerial meetings with stakeholders, current and ongoing engagement takes places through: six-monthly meetings between officials and the largest of the child poverty stakeholder groups including, the Child Poverty Action Group, One Parent Families, Save the Children, Barnardo’s and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation; the Child Poverty Accord, an agreement between The Local Government Association and Central Government Departments—DWP (and its Agencies), Department for Education and Skills, HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs—to work together to tackle child poverty. The Accord partners will continue to work with local authorities to develop anti-poverty strategies; the City Strategy which will play a significant role in increasing local employment rates, ensuring those most disadvantaged in the labour market can receive the help and guidance they need. It will bring together the public, private and voluntary sectors into a concerted local programme to improve the way support for individual jobless people is co-ordinated and delivered on the ground.
Social Security Benefits: Fraud
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 24 April 2007, Official Report, column 1158W, on social security benefit: fraud, how the Voice Risk Analysis software which his Department intends to test differs from a lie detector test. [135110]
Mr. Plaskitt:
The Voice Risk Analysis software which the Department intends to test is a risk assessment process. It analyses micro physiological changes to a caller’s voice and combines this analysis with a number of other techniques to provide an indication of the level of confidence that can be attached to answers to questions. It will not by itself be used to determine entitlement to benefit, but to identify which claims can be paid quickly or which may need further examination and supporting verification. The technique does not require the customer to be physically present. In contrast lie detectors require a
customer presence and rely on measuring a range of involuntary physiological factors such as heart rate; blood pressure and respiration.
Welfare to Work
Mr. Gauke:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what funding has been made available
to pilot the recommendations contained in the Freud report; [135114]
(2) what plans he has to introduce pilot schemes implementing the recommendations contained in the Freud report. [135115]
Mr. Jim Murphy [holding answer 1 May 2007]: The Government’s response to the Freud Report will be published in the summer.
| Index | Home Page |