Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many historical arrears cases have been transferred from the Child Support Agency to the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Data is available on the number of arrears only cases registered with the Child Support Agency (CSA). This is available in Table 2 of the Child Support Agency Case Closure Statistics: June 2014 - September 2018 (below).
Statistics on the total number of Child Support Agency arrears only cases that have been transferred to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), and the number of CSA arrears only cases on the CMS caseload are published in Table 8 of the same publication (Child Support Agency Case Closure Statistics).
This publication shows that as of September 2018 there were 171,700 CSA arrears only cases on the Child Maintenance Service Caseload.
Data on the number of cases with arrears accrued within the Child Maintenance Service is available from Child Maintenance Service Administrative Data. This shows that, as of September 2018, there were 6,700 cases where arrears have been accumulated solely within CMS and liability has ended. There are a further 2,700 cases with both CMS and CSA arrears where liability has ended.*
Case closure is part of the government’s 2012 vision for child maintenance reforms designed to encourage parents to consider making collaborative family based arrangements.
Since 2014, cases with the Child Support Agency have been closed in a phased manner as part of the transition to the Child Maintenance Service.
To provide CSA clients with an opportunity to consider their choice of future maintenance arrangement – including whether they could make a family based arrangement – they are signposted to the Child Maintenance Options service as part of the closure process.
Following Parliamentary approval of new regulations in December 2018, the Department is now implementing its Child Maintenance Compliance and Arrears Strategy which includes finally dealing with the remaining arrears only CSA cases. Where there is a prospect that it may be cost effective to do so, we are offering parents a chance to ask the department to attempt to collect the outstanding arrears. Arrears that are not cost effective to attempt to collect and those which parents do not want us to pursue, will be written off.
*Please note that the data supplied on arrears accrued within the Child Maintenance Service are derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many historical arrears cases there were at the beginning of the migration of cases from the Child Support Agency to the Child Maintenance Service.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Data is available on the number of arrears only cases registered with the Child Support Agency (CSA). This is available in Table 2 of the Child Support Agency Case Closure Statistics: June 2014 - September 2018 (below).
Statistics on the total number of Child Support Agency arrears only cases that have been transferred to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), and the number of CSA arrears only cases on the CMS caseload are published in Table 8 of the same publication (Child Support Agency Case Closure Statistics).
This publication shows that as of September 2018 there were 171,700 CSA arrears only cases on the Child Maintenance Service Caseload.
Data on the number of cases with arrears accrued within the Child Maintenance Service is available from Child Maintenance Service Administrative Data. This shows that, as of September 2018, there were 6,700 cases where arrears have been accumulated solely within CMS and liability has ended. There are a further 2,700 cases with both CMS and CSA arrears where liability has ended.*
Case closure is part of the government’s 2012 vision for child maintenance reforms designed to encourage parents to consider making collaborative family based arrangements.
Since 2014, cases with the Child Support Agency have been closed in a phased manner as part of the transition to the Child Maintenance Service.
To provide CSA clients with an opportunity to consider their choice of future maintenance arrangement – including whether they could make a family based arrangement – they are signposted to the Child Maintenance Options service as part of the closure process.
Following Parliamentary approval of new regulations in December 2018, the Department is now implementing its Child Maintenance Compliance and Arrears Strategy which includes finally dealing with the remaining arrears only CSA cases. Where there is a prospect that it may be cost effective to do so, we are offering parents a chance to ask the department to attempt to collect the outstanding arrears. Arrears that are not cost effective to attempt to collect and those which parents do not want us to pursue, will be written off.
*Please note that the data supplied on arrears accrued within the Child Maintenance Service are derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's preparations for the UK leaving the EU with (a) an agreement on future partnership and (b) no agreement with the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Department for Work and Pensions is undertaking planning for all EU exit scenarios, as is prudent for such a significant issue, including working closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union to ensure consistency of plans across government.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many national insurance numbers issued to EU-EEA citizens are currently active.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The information requested is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken as a result of the Speaker's statement of 6 March 2017, Official Report, column 622, on his Department's new policy on accessing information about constituents' universal credit claims; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
On 13th March 2017 the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions made a statement:
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what systems are in place to ensure that a previous finding of maladministration against the Child Support Agency does not occur again under the same circumstances.
Answered by Steve Webb
Where the Child Support Agency (CSA) identifies maladministration it is committed to addressing this through training, education, amending procedures and formal action with the individuals concerned.
The CSA is also subject to scrutiny from a variety of external bodies including the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman, DWP Independent Case Examiner and National Audit Office. These bodies will follow up on their initial reports, to confirm that the maladministration has been put right.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, under what conditions the Child Support Agency is obliged to consider an applicant's lifestyle rather than evidence of earned income and unearned income from relevant assets.
Answered by Steve Webb
The Child Support Agency may consider a variation to the maintenance calculation on the ground of “lifestyle inconsistent with declared income” where evidence is provided that indicates a parent has a lifestyle which is inconsistent with the amount of income that has been used in the standard calculation.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many individual decisions made by the Child Support Agency have been overturned by the First and Second Tier Tribunals in the last three years.
Answered by Steve Webb
The table below details the number of decisions made by the Child Support Agency (CSA) which have been overturned by the First Tier Tribunal in the last three years and the latest position for 2014/2015:
2011/2012 | 2,751 |
2012/2013 | 2,610 |
2013/2014 | 2,241 |
2014/2015 | 823 |
Information on CSA decisions overturned by the Upper Tribunal is not collected centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will review the degree to which assessments for Child Support calculates an individual's assets, to ensure that the assessment is comprehensive.
Answered by Steve Webb
The new child maintenance scheme introduced in 2012 applies a broader definition of income to take account of taxable income derived from assets not included in the main calculation. We believe capturing taxable rather than notional income is far more meaningful for parents as well as administratively achievable. There are currently no plans to review this.