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10 Jan 2006 : Column 611W—continued

Child Support Agency

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the target time for the processing of Child Support Agency applications is; [17688]

(2) what percentage of Child Support Agency applications were processed within the target time in the most recent period for which figures are available; [17689]

(3) how many Child Support Agency applications are being processed; [17690]

(4) how many Child Support Agency applications being processed were received (a) more than six months ago and (b) more than one year ago; and if he will make a statement. [17691]

Mr. Plaskitt: The Child Support Agency currently has no set target for processing applications because of its current and well documented backlog position.

The available information on the volumes and time taken to process outstanding Child Support Agency applications is in the table.
Time taken to process outstanding Child Support Agency applications

	Number of cases(54)
Potential new-scheme applications yet to be cleared	264,000
Of which:
Received in the last six months	50,000
Received between six months and a year ago	35,000
Received more than a year ago	96,000
Unknown(55)	85,000
Old-scheme cases yet to be cleared(56)	75,000
Total number of cases yet to be cleared	339,000

⁽⁵⁴⁾ Numbers are rounded to the nearest 1,000. Numbers may not sum due to rounding.
⁽⁵⁵⁾ There are currently 85,000 potential new-scheme applications that have come through Job Centre Plus, which are yet to be cleared, and for which management information is not currently available.
⁽⁵⁶⁾ The new scheme became operational in March 2003. Therefore, all old-scheme cases yet to be cleared were, by definition, received more than a year ago.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) in what proportion of Child Support Agency cases no payments have ever been made in each year since 2000–01; [21434]
 
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(2) what proportion of Child Support Agency applications under the new scheme rules resulted in maintenance payments being made in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [21441]

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 Hilary Reynolds, dated 10 January 2006:

In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive, as Stephen Geraghty is on leave I am replying on his behalf.

You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what proportion of Child Support Agency cases no payments have ever been made in each year since 2000–01.

You also asked what proportion of Child Agency applications under the new scheme rules resulted in maintenance payments being made in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

The information requested is only available for new-scheme cases on a scheme-to-date basis.

At the end of September 2005, of the 202,000 cases where the initial assessment indicated maintenance was due, 72 per cent. had either received one or more payments via the collection service, or a Maintenance Direct arrangement had been put in place. Conversely, 28 per cent. had yet to receive any payment.

I hope you find this helpful,

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Child Support Agency (CSA) cases under the new CSA scheme have been (a) received, (b) cleared and (c) closed without payments being made. [21437]

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 10 January 2006:

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 Child Support Agency (CSA) cases under the new CSA scheme have been (a) received (b) cleared and (c) closed without payments being made.

As at the end of September 2005, since the new scheme began the Agency has received 755,000 applications, of which 494,000 (65 per cent.) had been cleared. Of those applications cleared, 219,000 (44 per cent.) had a calculation and payment arrangement in place, of which 202,000 resulted in a positive liability, with the remainder having nil calculations. The remaining 276,000 (56 per cent.) were cleared prior to the point at which maintenance was calculated, and hence before any payment was made. Of this latter group, 236,000 cases were closed and 40,000 identified as either claiming good cause, being subject to a reduced benefit decision or a change of circumstances in relation to an existing case (as opposed to a new calculation).

It should be noted that an application is defined as cleared if the case is closed, a maintenance calculation has been carried out and a payment arrangement between the parent with care (PWC) and the non-resident parent is in place. In addition, an application is also counted as cleared if the PWC is identified as claiming Good Cause, the PWC is subject to a Reduced Benefit Decision or the application is identified as being a change of circumstances on an existing case as opposed to a new application.

 
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The figures included in this response have been rounded to the nearest thousand.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many Child Support Agency cases were awaiting a decision in each month between October 2004 and October 2005; [21444]

(2) what the backlog of Child Support Agency cases has been under (a) the old system and (b) the new system for each month from January 2004 to October 2005; and if he will make a statement; [21581]

(3) what the total backlog of cases awaiting processing is under the new Child Support Agency scheme calculation for each month since June 2003; and if he will make a statement. [21853]

 
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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 January 2006:

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 total backlog of cases awaiting processing under the new Child Support Agency scheme calculation for each month since June 2003 is; how many Child Support Agency cases were awaiting a decision in each month between October 2004 and October 2005 and what the backlog of Child Support Agency cases has been under (a) the old system and (b) the new system for each month from January 2004 to October 2005.

The table below sets out the number of uncleared cases for each month for which information is currently available:

	2005
	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September
New Scheme	259,000	264,000	266,000	266,000	265,000	263,000	263,000	264,000	261,000
Old Scheme	103,000	92,000	87,000	86,000	82,000	78,000	76,000	75,000	73,000
Total Agency	362,000	357,000	353,000	352,000	346,000	341,000	340,000	339,000	333,000

Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. Information for new and old-scheme cases on the new computer system is not currently available between March 2003 and December 2004, therefore volumes for this period cannot be provided.
3. At September, 32,000 old-scheme cases were suspended on the old computer system, principally because the Agency has been unable to trace the non-resident parent. Similar types of cases will also exist for both new and old-scheme cases on the new computer system, the volumes of which cannot currently be quantified.

I hope you find this helpful

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