Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she was aware of cases where service personnel were deducted more than £900 a month in child support payments while serving on operations.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
My Department does not hold information on whether service personnel are deployed on operations. Service personnel are treated in the same way as other paying parents and their child maintenance liability will increase, or decrease in line with any changes to their income.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many liability orders granted in magistrates' courts to the Child Support Agency were for an amount over £5,000.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department recorded and published data on the number of liability orders granted to the Child Support Agency up until November 2016. Statistics on liability orders granted to the Child Support Agency until this point are published in Table 22 of the Child Support Agency quarterly summary of statistics: December 2016, available online at:
It is not possible to provide information after November 2016 as this data is no longer recorded.
The Department does not record information on the value of liability orders granted in magistrates’ courts to the Child Support Agency. Therefore it is not possible to provide this information.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many liability orders were granted to the Child Support Agency in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department recorded and published data on the number of liability orders granted to the Child Support Agency up until November 2016. Statistics on liability orders granted to the Child Support Agency until this point are published in Table 22 of the Child Support Agency quarterly summary of statistics: December 2016, available online at:
It is not possible to provide information after November 2016 as this data is no longer recorded.
The Department does not record information on the value of liability orders granted in magistrates’ courts to the Child Support Agency. Therefore it is not possible to provide this information.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases of alleged benefit fraud were reported to her Department in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Counter Fraud and Compliance Directorate (CFCD), part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), is responsible for the prevention, detection and, where appropriate, investigation of fraud and error relating to all benefits administered by and on behalf of DWP.
All reported allegations of benefit fraud are recorded and appropriate action taken.
The table below shows the number of benefit fraud allegation referrals received each year since 2008. It should be noted that within these totals there could be multiple referrals relating to the same allegation against an individual.
Year | Total Referrals From All Sources |
2008-09 | 891,000 |
2009-10 | 937,000 |
2010-11 | 938,000 |
2011-12 | 954,000 |
2012-13 | 850,000 |
2013-14 | 915,000 |
2014-15 | 740,000 |
2015-16 | 766,000 |
2016-17 | 765,000 |
2017-18 | 839,000 |
2018-19(YTD to 19.12.18) | 519,000 |
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the March 2017 report of the NAO entitled Child maintenance: closing cases and managing arrears on the 1993 and 2003 schemes, HC 1054, for what reason fewer than expected parents who were asked by her Department to join the new scheme have been joining that scheme when their 1993 and 2003 scheme cases are closed.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The findings of the NAO’s report was based on information gathered in 2016, a little over half way through the case closure programme. The Department’s estimate refers to the number of arrangements once the case closure process is complete. The NAO’s report also does not take into account the order in which cases were closed. To minimise disruption to Child Support Agency arrangements, those where no money was being paid were closed first and the Case Closure Outcomes survey published in December 2016 found that, clients who did not have maintenance payments flowing under the CSA, were less likely to set up a new arrangement with the CMS than parents whose CSA case had maintenance flowing.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff are employed by the Child Support Agency.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are 697 people, full time equivalent, working in the Child Support Agency at present.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what processes are in place to ensure that an individual who is serving in the armed forces is aware that the Child Maintenance Service is investigating a case relating to them; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
After an initial application is received Child maintenance Group (CMG) will attempt to locate the non-resident parent (NRP). If they are in the Armed Forces a phone call will be made and a letter will be sent to where they are based informing them that they have been named in a case and asking them to contact CMG. Only if CMG receives no cooperation or contact from the NRP will a Deduction from Earnings Request (DER) be considered. If CMG know that the NRP is in the Armed Forces, CMG will contact the Armed Forces Liaison Officer to check whether the non-resident parent is on active service. If the NRP is on active service and NOT in a warzone a DER will be issued. If the NRP is in a warzone, collection action is suspended, DER action halted and the case is reviewed every 3 months. All DER requests are sent to a central MoD address.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has found against the Child Support Agency for maladministration; and how much compensation was paid in each of the last six years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) is independent of Government and has agreed to write to the Hon. Member with the relevant information.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many appeals to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman relating to the (a) Child Support Agency and (b) Child Maintenance Service have been upheld in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) is independent of Government and has agreed to write to the Hon. Member with the relevant information.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases from the (a) 1993 and (b) 2003 Child Support Agency schemes remain open.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The latest statistics on the caseload of the Child Support Agency split by scheme are published in Table 1 of the Child Support Agency quarterly summary of statistics: September 2018 statistics available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-of-statistics-september-2018.