---

21 Apr 2008 : Column 1820W—continued

Information on the proportion of cases categorised by the age of the outstanding debt and held on the current computer system (CS2) is provided in the attached Table 1. This analysis can not be carried out on the information we hold on cases prior to February 2007, therefore the analysis is based on the latest information available at December 2007. It is also not possible to perform this analysis for cases maintained on the old computer system (CSCS). As at December 2007, 48 per cent of current cases on the CSCS system have debt outstanding.

The Child Support Agency operates a discretionary, non-statutory scheme providing financial redress for maladministration. Payments 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.

21 Apr 2008 : Column 1821W

It is not possible to include the information we hold on these payments in the analysis of the outstanding debt set out in Table 1. Therefore such information as is available on these payments has been provided separately in the attached Table 2.

21 Apr 2008 : Column 1822W

I hope you find this answer helpful.

Table 1: Proportion of current cases with debt on CS2 by age of oldest debt, December 2007
Age of debt	Proportion (percentage) of cases on CS2 with debt.
0 to 3 months	8
3 to 6 months	5
6 to 9 months	6
9 to 12 months	5
Over 12 months	45
Unknown	4
Notes: 1. Includes debt on cases maintained on CS2 only. 2. Only debt accrued while the case has been maintained on CS2 can be aged. Unknown age band includes cases where debt has migrated from the CSCS computer system. 3. Percentages rounded to nearest whole per cent. 4. The specific weekly age bands requested are not available. Monthly time bands available in the existing management information are instead provided.

Table 2: Number and value of payments made by Child Support Agency for financial loss, compensation for delay and consolatory payments
	Actual financial loss		Compensation delay		Consolatory
	Number of payments authorised	Total value of payments (£ million)	Number of payments authorised	Total value of payments (£ million)	Number of payments authorised	Total value of payments (£ million)
1998-99	4,300	3.3	1,100	0.3	4,200	0.6
1999-2000	3,700	1.8	700	0.3	4,500	0.5
2000-01	5,200	1.9	800	0.2	6,600	0.7
2001-02	6,300	1.6	900	0.2	8,300	0.7
2002-03	5,900	1.3	700	0.2	8,400	0.7
2003-04	4,900	1.4	800	0.1	5,600	0.4
2004-05	7,100	2.4	1,700	0.1	9,000	0.6
2005-06	5,900	3.1	2,100	0.2	9,200	0.6
2006-07	4,700	2.5	1,900	0.4	9,200	0.7
Notes: 1. Figures relate to payments made. It is not possible to identify how many of the payments authorised are for families. Some payments may be for non-resident parents. 2. Number of authorised payments rounded to nearest £100,000 Value of payments rounded to nearest £100,000. 3. Figures to 2005-06 show payments awarded in each year for Actual Financial Loss, Compensation for Delay and Consolatory Payments. These will include timing differences when reconciling to the Annual Report & Accounts. Figures for 2006/7 are actual payments and are aligned with the Annual Report.

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in what number and proportion of cases with arrears outstanding the Child Support Agency is taking enforcement action, broken down by type of action being taken. [185121]

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 21 April 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, in what number and proportion of cases with arrears outstanding the Child Support Agency is taking enforcement action broken down by type of action being taken. [185121]

The data required to answer this question comes from several different information flows. Our information systems do not allow us to compare the number of cases with arrears outstanding to the number of individual enforcement actions taken. The Agency routinely reports on the number of enforcement actions instigated in Table 21 of the Child Support Agency's Quarterly Summary of Statistics. This is available online at www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/csa.asp or in the House of Commons Library.

In the year to October 2007, the Agency undertook 102,120 new legal and administrative enforcement actions. These covered a range of processes including distress actions, county court judgement orders, 3rd party debt orders, charging orders, suspended committal sentences, committal sentences, requests for new deduction from earnings orders and deductions from earnings requests, suspended driving licence disqualifications and driving licence disqualifications. As the Agency records the numbers of enforcement actions rather than the number of cases, different types of enforcement action may relate to the same case.

In addition it should be noted that Table 9 of the Agency's Quarterly Summary of Statistics shows that a total of 169,700 deductions from earnings orders or requests were in place in October 2007. This figure will include all new deduction from earnings orders or requests noted in Table 21 and above.

I hope you find this answer helpful.

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parents with care (a) on and (b) not on income support and income based jobseeker’s allowance were entitled to maintenance via the Child Support Agency in each quarter since 1997, broken down by region. [194668]

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.

21 Apr 2008 : Column 1823W

Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 21 April 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 parents with care (a) on and (b) not on income support
21 Apr 2008 : Column 1824W
and income based jobseeker's allowance were entitled to maintenance via the Child Support Agency in each quarter since 1997, broken down by region.

The information requested is provided in the attached table.

I hope you find this answer helpful.

Cases with a Positive Maintenance Liability broken down by Benefit Status and Region of the Parent with Care:
	North East		North West		Yorkshire/Humberside
	Parent with Care on IS/JSA (IB)	Parent with Care not on IS/JSA IB)	Parent with Care on IS/JSA (IB)	Parent with Care not on IS/JSA IB)	Parent with Care on IS/JSA (IB)	Parent with Care not on IS/JSA IB)
February 1997	11,200	13,100	26,700	30,500	18,200	19,800
May 1997	10,900	14,100	26,100	31,400	17,700	21,400
August 1997	11,000	15,000	26,600	33,500	17,500	22,400
November 1997	10,900	16,300	26,000	36,600	16,800	24,500
February 1998	11,200	16,800	27,100	39,400	16,900	26,100
May 1998	11,700	17,900	27,700	42,800	17,100	27,400
August 1998	11,500	20,100	27,600	44,500	17,200	29,800
November 1998	11,900	20,600	26,400	45,100	17,300	31,700
February 1999	12,800	21,100	27,300	46,600	18,000	33,700
May 1999	13,100	22,500	28,000	48,900	18,500	35,500
August 1999	13,500	23,200	27,900	50,500	19,300	36,300
November 1999	14,500	24,300	27,800	52,600	18,900	37,600
February 2000	14,400	25,100	27,400	54,400	18,600	38,400
May 2000	14,500	25,500	27,300	55,400	18,100	39,300
August 2000	14,500	25,600	26,500	54,200	17,800	39,900
November 2000	14,400	25,900	25,600	54,800	17,200	39,900
February 2001	14,300	26,700	25,300	54,100	17,200	39,900
May 2001	14,000	27,400	23,600	53,800	16,500	40,600
August 2001	13,800	27,000	23,800	53,900	16,600	41,200
November 2001	13,600	28,200	22,800	54,200	16,000	42,500
February 2002	12,900	28,100	23,000	54,600	15,400	43,200
May 2002	12,400	27,800	23,300	55,000	15,300	43,500
August 2002	12,100	27,900	23,400	54,000	14,900	43,000
November 2002	11,500	28,500	22,900	56,300	14,200	44,000
February 2003	10,300	25,200	21,500	51,400	12,500	38,600
May 2003	10,100	24,300	21,300	50,000	12,500	38,200
August 2003	10,000	23,800	20,800	49,400	12,200	38,000
November 2003	9,800	23,100	20,900	50,600	11,700	38,600
February 2004	10,200	23,400	22,200	50,900	12,100	39,000
May 2004	10,300	24,200	23,000	52,400	12,700	39,700
August 2004	10,800	25,000	24,100	54,600	13,700	40,600
November 2004	11,600	27,000	25,800	58,500	15,400	43,400
February 2005	12,000	27,300	26,700	60,300	15,800	44,300
May 2005	12,300	27,500	28,000	61,900	16,900	45,200
August 2005	12,800	27,700	29,000	62,300	17,500	46,300
November 2005	13,200	28,400	29,700	63,300	18,500	47,200
February 2006	13,900	28,700	31,200	64,100	19,800	47,500
May 2006	14,700	29,000	32,700	64,400	20,500	48,500
August 2006	15,100	29,300	34,300	65,200	21,600	49,000
November 2006	15,600	29,900	35,000	66,800	21,800	48,000
February 2007	16,500	29,500	35,800	65,300	22,800	48,500
May 2007	17,100	30,600	37,100	68,000	24,300	50,200

---