4 Improving service delivery and case
management
Restructuring the CSA and work
with HMRC
39. One important component of the OIP was a restructuring
of the CSA and its operations. The NAO's value for money audit
of the organisation in 2006 identified a number of problems in
the CSA's "task based model", whereby case management
staff were divided into teams carrying out individual tasks rather
than viewing a case as a whole. The NAO believed that this model
contributed to poor customer service, inefficient processing of
cases and inaccurate calculations.[40]
Under the new structure introduced under the OIP, teams were aligned
to the employment status of the non-resident parent and senior
caseworkers were identified to manage more complex cases.
40. The Commission estimates that the restructuring
enabled around 1800 staff to be redeployed to active case progression;
the percentage of total staff engaged in case progression moved
from 59% in March 2006 to 74% in March 2009.[41]
This change took place over a period when total staff numbers
fell 8% from an average of 10,400 in 2005-06 to 9,600 in 2008-09.[42]
41. In addition to its structural changes, over the
course of the OIP, the CSA and the Commission have worked with
HM Revenue and Customs who were able to provide employment details
and addresses in tracing non-resident parents. The CSA also made
use of private sector tracing agencies and information held by
credit reference agencies to improve performance in this respect.[43]
Improving management of cases
CLEARING THE BACKLOG OF CASES
42. The Operational Improvement Plan (OIP), launched
in February 2006, acknowledged the scale of the backlog of applications
to the CSA that had not yet been cleared. It noted that over a
quarter of a million current scheme cases were outstanding and
almost 70,000 old scheme cases had not been assessed (in most
cases because the non-resident parent could not be traced). At
the start of the OIP in April 2006, the backlog stood at 282,400
cases waiting to be cleared by the CSA, of which 220,900 were
to be assessed under the current scheme and 61,500 under the old
scheme.
43. By the close of the Operational Improvement Scheme,
the number of uncleared current scheme cases had fallen to 49,400
(a fall of 78% over the course of the OIP) and there were 6,800
uncleared old scheme cases (a fall of 89%).[44]
This result exceeded the target of the OIP to reduce the number
of uncleared current scheme cases to 90,000 by a wide margin.
Both staff and management deserve congratulations on this achievement.
PROCESSING NEW CLAIMS
44. The CSA and the Commission also achieved a significant
improvement in the speed of processing of new cases. The percentage
of current scheme applications cleared within 12 weeks increased
from 52% at the start of the OIP to 81% in March 2009 (exceeding
the OIP target of 80%).[45]
45. At its inception, the current scheme was expected
to provide for calculations to be made and payments arranged for
most cases within six weeks of the application. We asked the Commission
why this expectation had been abandoned. Stephen Geraghty told
us that, whilst around 50% of cases were cleared in six weeks,
where there was any difficulty in tracing or establishing the
income of the non-resident parent, then the six week target was
unrealistic.[46] However,
he hoped that for the future scheme, where the Commission would
obtain income data from HMRC, a target of six weeks for 75-80%
of cases could become realistic.
ACCURACY OF MAINTENANCE CALCULATIONS
46. Over the course of the OIP, the accuracy to the
nearest penny of calculations for old scheme cases improved from
84% to 91%, while accuracy for current scheme cases improved from
81% to 84%. In 2007, part way through the OIP, the Agency changed
its method of calculating accuracy to a measure of "cash
value accuracy", which assesses the value of accurate calculations
as a percentage of the value of all calculations made. By this
measure, accuracy was assessed at 96% for current scheme cases
and 98% for old scheme cases in 2008-09.[47]
47. Although the current scheme was introduced to
simplify maintenance calculations, after six years of its operation
and after three years of the OIP, accuracy levels are lower on
the current scheme than on the old scheme. Stephen Geraghty explained
that the staff working on the old scheme cases had generally been
doing so for a long time and the cases themselves were more "stable"
with fewer new elements being introduced.[48]
CUSTOMER SERVICE
48. In 2005-06, 423,000 of the 5.3 million telephone
calls made to the CSA were abandoned by the customer waiting to
speak to a member of staff. The average time taken to answer a
call from the queue stood at 59 seconds at the start of the OIP.
By the end of the programme, the average time taken to answer
calls had fallen to 13 seconds; around 52,000 calls were abandoned
during 2008-09 out of a similar volume of calls.[49]
The improvements effected by the CSA have also reduced the number
of complaints, from 62,100 in 2005-06 to 27,800 in 2008-09.[50]
VOLUME OF NEW APPLICATIONS
49. Easing the Commission's task has been a rapid
fall in the number of new maintenance applications received. The
repeal of Section 6 of the Child Support Act 1991 by the Child
Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 removed the compulsion
for parents with main day-to-day care in receipt of out-of-work
benefits to apply for statutory child maintenance. This compulsion
was removed for parents newly claiming benefits from July 2008
and for existing claimants from October 2008. In March 2009, the
Agency received 34,700 applications; this number had fallen to
8,200 in March 2009. Whilst acknowledging that the fall in volume
of applications had been significant, Stephen Geraghty noted that
the repeal of section 6 came into force in October 2008, by which
time the Commission had "already over achieved the OIP programme".[51]
50. We commend the staff and management of the CSA
for their very substantial achievements in exceeding their target
by a wide margin for clearing the backlog of uncleared cases and
for meeting their target for processing new claims. The CSA has
also made big strides in improving its accuracy and its levels
of customer service. It is to the credit of all in the organisation
that, in these respects, it has never been working more effectively.
However, there is still room for improvement and we hope that
the Commission will be able to maintain this momentum and urge
it to ensure that it learns from these successes in designing
operations for the future scheme.
40 Ev 26 Back
41
Ev 28 Back
42
Ev 28 Back
43
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44
Ev 32 Back
45
Ev 32 Back
46
Q37 Back
47
Ev 32 Back
48
Q41 Back
49
Ev 33 Back
50
Ev 33 Back
51
Q34 Back
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