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12 Mar 2008 : Column 422W—continued
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of repayment schedules agreed with the Child Support Agency have been over (a) 10, (b) 20, (c) 30 and (d) 50. [185878]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information requested is not available and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Child Support Agency acknowledges requests from the non-resident parent for a change of circumstances review; what the target time is for completion of such a review from the date of receipt; and what the average time taken was for completion of such a review from date of receipt in the latest period for which figures are available. [183899]
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 12 March 2008:
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, whether the Child Support Agency acknowledges requests from the non-resident parent for a change of circumstances review; what the target time is for completion of such a review from the date of receipt; and what the average time taken was for completion of such a review from date of receipt in the latest period for which figures are available. [183899]
The Agency has recently begun to publish data concerning change of circumstances requests by case in Table 29 of the Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary Statistics, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library, or on the internet via the following link: www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/child_support/csa_quarterly_dec07.asp.
Change of circumstances requests cover a number of different areas including change of address, change of employer, changes to income, number of people living in the household and whether a parent is in receipt of benefits. Only around 10 per cent of changes of circumstances affect collection schedules. As a change of circumstance can potentially affect more than one case, and a case can have multiple changes of circumstances outstanding, the Agency records the number of requests and not cases.
The Agency does not record whether the request was generated by the non-resident parent or the parent with care.
On average the Agency receives almost 190,000 requests per month and so is unable to acknowledge receipt of a change of circumstance request.
The Agency does not currently have a published target for the time taken to clear a change of circumstance. Robust information concerning the average time taken to clear a change of circumstance is not available. However, since March 2003, 97 per cent. of the changes of circumstances requests received by the Agency have been cleared.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the median child maintenance liability as assessed by the Child Support Agency was in each of the last 13 years. [177204]
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 12 March 2008:
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 the median child maintenance liability as assessed by the Child Support Agency was in each of the last 13 years. [177204]
The attached table shows the median positive weekly maintenance liability for the period November 1995 to December 2007. Data prior to this is not available. The overall Agency median weekly liability has decreased since 2003 as a result of the increased proportion of new scheme cases, which have lower maintenance liabilities, relative to the old scheme. There has also been an increase in the proportion of cases assessed as having no maintenance liability across both schemes. Despite the decrease in median weekly liability, the Agency collected or arranged nearly £975 million in maintenance in the twelve months to December 2007 meaning that more children in more cases now benefit from maintenance than ever before.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
| Median positive weekly maintenance liability | ||||||
| Median positive weekly liability (£) | Proportion of nil assessed cases (percentage) | |||||
| Month | Old scheme | New scheme | Overall agency | Old scheme | New scheme | Overall agency |
| Notes: 1. Includes all cases with a positive assessment as at end of December each year from 2003 and at end of November each year prior to this. 2. Median weekly liability is at month end for each relevant month. 3. Weekly liability rounded to the nearest £. 4. The latest available data is at December 2007. Data prior to November 1995 is not available. | ||||||
Child Support Agency: Compensation
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid in compensation for Child Support Agency maladministration in each of the last 10 years; and how many cases were involved in each year. [185592]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 12 March 2008:
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 was paid in compensation for Child Support Agency maladministration in each of the last 10 years; and how many cases were involved in each year. [185592]
Financial redress is made to clients in cases where maladministration has occurred. The table below provides information on the total consolatory payments made to clients in each of the last ten years. This information has been published in the Child Support Agency Annual Report & Accounts. The number of cases for 1997/98 to 1999/2000 were not separately disclosed in the Child Support Agency Annual Report and Accounts.
| Financial year | Compensation to clients (including interest payments) (£ million) | Number of cases |
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants owed compensation by the Child Support Agency (CSA) are awaiting payment of compensation from each of the last five years; and how much the CSA owes in such compensation for each of those years. [192694]
Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 7 March 2008]: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 12 March 2008:
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 claimants owed compensation by the Child Support Agency (CSA) are awaiting payment of compensation from each of the last five years; and how much the CSA owes in such compensation for each of those years. [192694]
The Child Support Agency operates a discretionary, non-statutory scheme providing financial redress for maladministration. Awards
may be made to redress any financial losses incurred and can include consolatory payments made by way of an apology for delay, inconvenience, worry and distress caused.
The Agency will consider whether such payments are appropriate either by request or in the course of resolving a complaint. As such, there is only a short delay between the decision to make a payment and any such payment being made.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
Child Support Agency: Complaints
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many telephone complaints have been received by the Child Support Agency from people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997; [184837]
(2) how many written complaints have been received by the Child Support Agency from people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [184838]
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 12 March 2008:
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 telephone complaints have been received by the Child Support Agency by people in (a) Jarrow constituency (b) South Tyneside (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997 [184837], and;
How many written complaints have been received by the Child Support Agency by people in (a) Jarrow constituency (b) South Tyneside (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [184838]
Information on the number of complaints received is not collated at parliamentary constituency, local authority or regional level. Information on the total number of written and telephone complaints received is set out in the attached tables. Written complaints include complaints received by letter, fax or email.
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