2 Levels of customer service
11. The Child Support reforms failed to deliver the
required improvements in customer service and administrative efficiency.[18]
In October 2006, one in four applications for maintenance received
by the Agency since March 2003 required clearance, there was a
backlog of a quarter of a million cases waiting to be processed,
and around 36,000 cases were stuck in the system.[19]
12. The Agency has a major role in helping to alleviate
child poverty, one of the Government's key targets. The Department
estimates that around 100,000 children are lifted out of poverty
through the maintenance that they receive, and this figure is
expected to rise to 140,000 if the Operational Improvement Plan
is successful. But it is clear that more children would have been
lifted out of poverty if the Agency had worked effectively. For
example, if all cases had transferred to the new scheme as expected,
and compliance remained at the same level as now, an estimated
50,000 additional children could have been lifted out of poverty
already. [20]
13. Although there are some signs of improvement
in performance, the Department accepted that there is a long way
to go before the Agency is delivering an effective service to
its customers. The number of complaints received reflects
the poor standards of customer service with around 55,000 received
in 2005-06.[21] In the
past, the member of staff responsible for dealing with the complaint
letter has not been responsible for putting the case right. The
Agency is currently simplifying how it manages and responds to
complaints to address this inconsistency and is training staff
so that by March 2007 the same person will be responsible for
both.[22] More money
is now getting to more children, with the number of parents in
receipt of the Child Maintenance Premium up from 10,000 in March
2004 to over 50,000 in October 2006.[23]
14. The majority of the Agency's contact with parents
is over the telephone or in writing, but some parents need more
opportunities to discuss their cases face to face with officials. Where
such a service had been used in the past it appeared to work well,
but the Agency withdrew it on efficiency grounds. A scaled down
face to face service does exist for those that need it most but
it needs to be advertised if its effectiveness is to be maximised.
15. Small signs of improvement in customer service
exist in some other areas. For example during 2005-06, 423,000
phone calls to the Agency were abandoned by customers whilst waiting
to speak to a member of staff—some 9%.[24]
The latest management information indicates that the Agency is
now answering more telephone calls, with only around 2% of calls
abandoned between April and December 2006, but this amounts to
93,000 calls which is still too many.[25]
16. When communicating with parents, it is important
for due consideration to be given to the sensitivities of their
situation. Some of the Agency's standard letters to parents fail
to provide simple messages in easily understandable language. The
Agency is now looking at the type and quality of the letters it
sends out.[26] The Department
accepts that greater emphasis is needed on advice and guidance
for parents, as in Australia. Under the new arrangements announced
in December, parents will be encouraged to make their own arrangements
for agreeing child maintenance payments in the first instance.
To help them do so, parents will need clear advice and guidance
from the Department, which should draw on past recommendations
from the National Audit Office and this Committee, including,
for example, testing with customers that they understand the information
that is produced.[27]
17. Only a small proportion of customers who have
experienced a poor level of service received any compensation. The
Department does not consider it feasible to have a compensation
scheme for parents whose cases have not transferred to the new
scheme and where, for example, parents with care or those paying
maintenance may be missing out on the new benefits.[28] Nor
are parents on Income Support who may have lost up to £520
each year in the form of the Child Maintenance Premium going to
be compensated.
18. Compensation is available where there has been
departmental error or delay that has affected customers badly.
The Agency made payments of just under £4 million last year
under this scheme. From 1996 until 1 April 2005, the Department
offered concessions where large initial payment arrears arose
through maladministration, delayed reviews of cases or delays
to implementing changes of circumstances.[29]
In cases which had accrued at least 26 weeks of arrears and, providing
the non-resident parent agreed to pay the most recent 26 weeks,
the Department agreed to defer any prior debt in recognition of
the burden it presented. The Agency then compensated the parent
with care where they had lost maintenance because of deferment.
Almost £15 million was paid under this scheme.[30]
19. Under the original child support system, up to
one hundred pieces of information about income, housing costs
and other expenses were often required to determine non-resident
parents' contribution to child maintenance. The system was so
complex that it turned to be undeliverable. Running two systems
in parallel increased complexity. Both the original system and
that introduced in 2003 did not provide for parents to come to
their own private arrangements. Where parents have arrangements
in place that are overturned through the Agency's involvement,
parents feel aggrieved, especially when their cases then experience
problems and delay otherwise regular maintenance payments.[31]
The new proposed Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission
(C-MEC) intends to provide parents with the opportunity to come
to their own private arrangements.[32]
18 C&AG's Report, para 8 Back
19
C&AG's Report, para 14 Back
20
Qq 52-55; Ev 1 Back
21
Qq 91, 130 Back
22
Q 142 Back
23
Qq 130, 134 Back
24
C&AG's Report para 3.7, and Figure 8, page 47 Back
25
Qq 90, 94-99 Back
26
Q 148 Back
27
Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Using leaflets
to communicate with the public about services and entitlements,
HC (2005-06) 797; Committee of Public Accounts, Seventh Report
of Session 2006-07, Using leaflets to communicate with the
public about services and entitlements, HC 133 Back
28
Qq 132-133 Back
29
Qq 78-79 Back
30
Q 79; Ev 1 Back
31
Qq 81-82 Back
32
Department for Work and Pensions, A new system of child maintenance,
December 2006 Back
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