Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in how many cases the Child Maintenance Service opened a new case in error before a case subject to the Child Support Agency case closure process was closed in the last 12 months.
Answered by Priti Patel
The Child Maintenance Service computer systems automatically check whether clients making applications to the 2012 Scheme also have a case with Child Support Agency (CSA).
At February 2015, the Child Maintenance Service had received around 7,900 new applications from clients with CSA cases which are closing. Of these, 52 (around 0.6%) have had liability set up on the 2012 scheme before their CSA liability ended.
Processes are in place to correct these cases through specialist teams who provide individual advice on a case by case basis. Additionally, to minimise occurrences, the automated lookups to the CSA systems are refreshed regularly and upgrades to the computer software have been made.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what period of time parents who were formerly in receipt of Child Support Agency maintenance via that agency's collection service will experience a gap in child maintenance payments before their new applications to the Child Maintenance Service made within the six-month notice period are processed and a new payment schedule notified to the paying parent.
Answered by Priti Patel
The Government has committed to minimise disruption for those parents who wish to continue using the statutory service. We will guarantee that if parents choose to apply to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), and apply before the liability on their Child Support Agency (CSA) case ends, the underlying requirement to pay will continue through to their new case in the CMS.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Support Agency (CSA) cases have been closed as part of the phased three-year CSA case closure programme.
Answered by Steve Webb
Up to and including 28th February 2015, 5,100 cases have been closed as part of the phased three-year CSA case closure programme.
Notes:
Figure rounded to the nearest 100.
The figure is made up from cases proactively selected for case closure, and those where an application has been made to the 2012 scheme and a case exists on the 93/03 scheme which is then reactively closed down.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Support Agency cases are being dealt with by the legal enforcement section of that Agency.
Answered by Steve Webb
As of the end of November 2014 17,100 cases were being dealt with by the legal enforcement section of the Child Support Agency.
Notes:
Figure rounded to the nearest 100.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls the Child Maintenance Options Service has received in each month from September 2014 to date.
Answered by Steve Webb
The number of inbound calls received by the Child Maintenance Options Service from September 2014 to the end of February 2015 is shown in the table below.
Month | Number of calls received by the Child Maintenance Options Service |
Sep-14 | 31,390 |
Oct-14 | 30,460 |
Nov-14 | 27,300 |
Dec-14 | 20,970 |
Jan-15 | 33,010 |
Feb-15 | 31,020 |
Notes:
- Data Sourced from CMO Monthly MI Service Pack
- Data rounded to nearest 10
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many six months' notice warning letters of case closure have been sent to Child Support Agency customers in each month since December 2014.
Answered by Steve Webb
The table below shows the number of six months’ notice warning letters of case closure, that have been issued since December 2014:
Month | Notifications Issued in Month |
January 2015 | 59,800 |
February 2015 | 50,600 |
Notes:
Figure rounded to the nearest 100.
The figures are made up from cases proactively selected for case closure, and those where an application has been made to the 2012 scheme and a case exists on the 93/03 scheme which is then reactively closed down.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many reminder letters giving one month's warning of case closure have been sent to Child Support Agency customers in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Steve Webb
The table below shows the number of reminder letters that have been issued giving one months warning of case closure. The case closure process started on the 30 June 2014, with reminder letters being issued from December 2014.
Month | Notifications Issued in Month |
December 2014 | 5,300 |
January 2015 | 13,200 |
February 2015 | 37,500 |
Notes:
Figure rounded to the nearest 100.
The figures are made up from cases proactively selected for case closure, and those where an application has been made to the 2012 scheme and a case exists on the 93/03 scheme which is then reactively closed down.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much child maintenance arrears (a) is designated technically uncollectable and (b) his Department has already written-off as uncollectable since the write-off powers were introduced in November 2012; and what the reasons are for any difference between the two such figures.
Answered by Steve Webb
(a) Information on uncollectable arrears can be found on page 41 of the latest Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics, available at the following link:
(b) Under the Write Off and Part Payment Powers introduced on 10 December 2012 the Department has written off £1.2 million in the financial year 2012/13 and £16.0 million in the financial year 2013/14 giving a total written off of £17.2 million.
The two figures are not directly comparable. The data is based on different sources, uncollectable arrears is based on the entire caseload whereas the amount written off relates to specific cases where agreement to write off has been reached.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of Child Support Agency arrears owing in cases with a current liability that will be (a) written off in full, (b) written off in part, (c) re-valued to take account of a previous interim maintenance assessment and (d) transferred to the Child Maintenance Service for collection as a result of the 2015 to 2018 phased closure of such cases.
Answered by Steve Webb
We cannot predict how many parents with care will agree to have their child maintenance arrears written off during the case closure process; however all will be given the opportunity to do so. No estimates have been published for the amount of Child Support Agency arrears that will be (a) written off in full, (b) written off in part, (c) re-valued to take account of a previous interim maintenance assessment, or (d) transferred to the Child Maintenance Service for collection.
Asked by: Helen Goodman (Labour - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the likely proportion of parents with care with child maintenance arrears whose CSA cases will be closed as part of the scheduled case closure process who will opt to have their child maintenance arrears (a) written off as part of the shutdown and (b) transferred to the child maintenance service for future collection.
Answered by Steve Webb
We cannot predict how many parents with care will agree to have their child maintenance arrears written off during the case closure process; however all will be given the opportunity to do so. No estimates have been published for the amount of Child Support Agency arrears that will be (a) written off in full, (b) written off in part, (c) re-valued to take account of a previous interim maintenance assessment, or (d) transferred to the Child Maintenance Service for collection.