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Benefit Office Closures
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) representations he has had from and (b) discussions he has had with (i) Citizens' Advice and (ii) other benefit advice organisations on the workload of such organisations since the benefit office closure programme. [34623]
Margaret Hodge: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 11 January 2006:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning the discussions he has had with the Citizen's Advice Bureau and other benefit advice organisations following the closure of benefit offices. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Plus was created in April 2002 bringing together the former Employment Service and those parts of the former Benefits Agency delivering services to working age people. We have been refurbishing and replacing the offices of the former Benefits Agency and Employment Service, on a rolling programme, to enable us to deliver the new, integrated Jobcentre Plus service to our customers.
Jobcentre Plus is not just about new offices however; it is about the service we provide to thousands of people. By 2006, we will have transformed our service making it available through the telephone, through the Internet and through the personal service that we offer to people in Jobcentre Plus offices.
The District Manager for Wrexham and North Wales Coast has written to local stakeholders, including the Citizen's Advice Bureau, on a number of occasions, since April 2004, to ensure they are kept fully informed of the changes we are making to local service delivery.
Child Support Agency
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints were registered with the Child Support Agency in each year from 1997 to 2005 in (a) England, (b) Northamptonshire and (c) Wellingborough. [26777]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information is not available at the geographical level requested.
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will make a statement on the (a) reform and (b) performance of the Child Support Agency (CSA); and what recent meetings he has had with the chief executive of the CSA; [38519]
(2) when he expects (a) reform of the Child Support Agency (CSA) to be completed and (b) all CSA maintenance cases to be calculated under the new scheme. [38520]
Mr. Plaskitt: The Secretary of State will make an announcement on child support shortly.
I and ministerial colleagues regularly meet with the agency's chief executive Stephen Geraghty. While there have been some improvements in the Child Support Agency's performance we are not satisfied with its overall level.
A copy of the most recent Child Support Agency quarterly statistical summary, which gives information on the agency's performance, has been placed in the Library and is available on line at www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/csa.asp.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what bonus pay awards will be made to senior staff at the Child Support Agency this Christmas; and what the total cost to his Department of the bonus payments will be. [39179]
Mr. Plaskitt: No bonus pay awards will be made to senior civil servants at the Child Support Agency this Christmas and there will be no resulting cost to my Department.
CSA
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases are currently with the Child Support Agency's specialist enforcement teams; and what action he is taking to reduce that number. [26100]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds, dated 11 January 2006:
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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 how many cases are currently with the Child Support Agency's specialist enforcement teams; and what action he is taking to reduce that number.
There are currently 15,784 cases with the Child Support Agency's specialist debt enforcement teams who are responsible for recovery of debt by means of civil debt recovery through the courts. It is expected that the number of cases referred to enforcement will increase over the short term as the Agency instigates enforcement action earlier in the process when lower amounts of debt have accrued.
The enforcement teams are becoming much more successful in utilising their enforcement powers. This is being demonstrated by the significant improvement in the in-month cash collections achieved, rising from £0.52m in January 2005 to £1.42m in November 2005.
In addition, the enforcement teams are closely monitoring the times taken to drive cases forward for both old scheme cases and new scheme cases and these times are improving. This action is being taken to ensure that we reach agreement on payment in full, or a payment arrangement with the non-resident parent quickly and effectively, ensuring money is obtained for the parent with care.
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people the Child Support Agency has reported as not paying the correct amount of child support in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [26569]
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 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 people the Child Support Agency has reported as not paying the correct amount of child support in (a) Jarrow constituency (b) South Tyneside (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997.
The attached table shows the number and percentage of cases being charged maintenance via the CSA's collection service for which the NRP paid the full amount of maintenance requested in the quarter ending August of each year.
Where full payment was not received from the NRP, cases have been separated into two groups; those where partial payment was made and those where no payment was received.
Unfortunately it is not possible to disaggregate the information requested to any geographical levels requested below that of Great Britain.
(19) Figures for the years 1997–2002 relate to old scheme cases only, whereas those for 2004–05 relate to overall performance across both old and new schemes. Robust information/information for new and old scheme cases on the new computer system is not available for the quarter ending August 2003.
Notes:
1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 1,000 and percentages to the nearest whole per cent.
2. Figures are given as at August in each year as this is the latest available period for which comparable old scheme figures are available in earlier years.
3. The above includes those old scheme cases with a full maintenance assessment and those new scheme cases with either a full maintenance calculation, or a default maintenance decision. Old scheme cases with a punitive interim maintenance assessment are excluded from this analysis in line with the Agency's target definitions, as are new scheme cases being processed clerically.
4. The proportion of compliant cases is calculated by expressing cases which are currently open and have paid any of the maintenance due via the collection service over the preceding quarter expressed as a percentage of all those (currently open) cases charged maintenance via the collection service (either regular maintenance and/or arrears) over the same quarter.
5. The table excludes maintenance direct cases (of which there were 99,000 in August 2005), in which the CSA have carried out a maintenance calculation or assessment, and the non resident parent then pays his/her maintenance liability directly to the parent with care. As the CSA is no longer directly involved in the case, it is not possible to say how much, if any of the original CSA maintenance liability is being paid.
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