Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many support for mortgage interest claimants have (a) Parkinson's disease and (b) multiple sclerosis.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2016 to Question 42974, when the written responses from external stakeholders on child maintenance service charges will be made available.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
There are currently no plans to publish the written responses stakeholders have submitted for the 30 month review. The feedback from stakeholders will be used to help inform the Department’s response to the review. The findings from the review are expected to be published in early 2017.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a public consultation will form part of the 30-month review of the introduction of child maintenance service changes.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
There are no plans to conduct a public consultation as part of the 30 month review. The Review will draw on information from externally commissioned qualitative and quantitative surveys conducted with those who use the Child Maintenance Service, as well as analysis of national data on separated families, including those who have chosen not to make maintenance arrangements through the statutory systems. We have also engaged with a number of relevant external stakeholder organisations who have been invited to provide a written response to a series of questions on charging.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 136 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts, if he will publish a breakdown of the full cost figure for the application and collection fees from the 2012 Child Maintenance statutory scheme in 2014-15.
Answered by Priti Patel
The full cost of the 2012 statutory maintenance scheme for the financial year 2014/15 is shown on Page 136 of the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts as £49.432m which comprises:
£46.1m of staff costs on all aspects of the 2012 scheme.
£3.332m of goods and service expenditure.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of child maintenance cases resulted in complaints in the (a) 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme, (b) 1993 legacy scheme and (c) 2003 legacy scheme; and what proportion of complaints were upheld in each year since 2010.
Answered by Priti Patel
From 10 December 2012 the 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme was opened to new applications with at least 4 qualifying children with the same two parents named in the application. From the 29 July 2013 the scheme then opened to new applicants with at least two qualifying children with the same two parents named in the application. From November 2013 the scheme opened to all new applicants.
For the 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme in 2013-14 and 2014-15 the proportion of complaints received against the total caseload was 0.7% and 1.7% respectively.
Following the launch of the 2003 Scheme for the years 2003-4 and 2004-5, the proportion of complaints received against the CSA caseload was 4.9% and 6.0%, respectively.
For the 1993 Scheme (excluding complaints managed off system), which had been in operation for 17 years, and which had not admitted new cases since March 2003, the proportion of complaints received against the live caseload in the years 2010-11 to 2014-15 was 1.5%, 0.9% 0.7% 0.4% and 0.2% respectively.
For the 2003 Scheme (excluding complaints managed off system), which had been in operation for seven years, and which had a reduced inflow of new cases following the introduction of the 2012 system, the proportion of complaints received against the live caseload in the years 2010-11 to 2014-15 was 1.9%, 1.6%, 1.4%, 1.1% and 0.7%, respectively.
Figures show the number of complaints received against the live/total caseload. There will be cases which have more than one complaint.
For the 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme, information on complaints upheld is not routinely recorded for management information purposes and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Data on complaints upheld includes fully and partially upheld complaints, but cannot be split between 1993 and 2003 Schemes. In the years from 2010-11 to 2014-15, the percentage of complaints upheld was 50.1%, 49.0%, 49.1%, 43.2%, 44.0% respectively.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of child maintenance cases in the 1993 and 2003 legacy schemes which were in receipt of regular ongoing maintenance being paid to the non-resident or receiving parent and which were subject to forced closure did not migrate to the 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme.
Answered by Priti Patel
Child Support Agency (CSA) cases from the 1993 and 2003 schemes are not automatically transferred / migrated to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) 2012 Scheme. All existing CSA cases are being closed gradually as part of the CSA Case Closure process.
Before an application can be made to the CMS, they must speak with the Child Maintenance Options Service where they are encouraged to make their own family based arrangement. Where this is not possible, or appropriate, they are able to apply to the CMS.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many child maintenance cases used Family Based Arrangements since 2010; and what proportion in each scheme has (a) resulted in regular maintenance and (b) broken down, resulting in the use of the collection service, in each year since 2010.
Answered by Priti Patel
Family Based Arrangements sit outside of the Child Maintenance Service as these are child maintenance arrangements which parents have agreed
between themselves.
Information on how many child maintenance cases used Family Based Arrangements since 2010 is not routinely recorded for management information purposes and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints relating to the implementation of charging for the 2012 statutory maintenance scheme have been received by (a) the Child Maintenance Service and (b) Child Maintenance Options.
Answered by Priti Patel
(a) The information requested is not routinely recorded for management information purposes and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
(b) Child Maintenance Options (CM Options) is a free service that provides impartial information and support to help separated parents make decisions about their child maintenance arrangements. They are also the gateway to the statutory Child Maintenance Service, ensuring parents who wish to access the 2012 Scheme are making a fully informed decision and have considered making their own arrangements first.
CM Options will provide information on the charging associated with applications made to the 2012 scheme, but any dissatisfaction in relation to collections charges is directed to the Child Maintenance Service to respond.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of child maintenance cases transitioned from the legacy child maintenance schemes to collection and payment under the 2012 scheme in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the rest of the UK.
Answered by Priti Patel
Child Support Agency (CSA) cases from the 1993 and 2003 schemes are not automatically transferred / migrated to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) 2012 Scheme. All existing CSA cases are being closed gradually as part of the CSA Case Closure process.
Before an application can be made to the CMS, they must speak with the Child Maintenance Options Service where they are encouraged to make their own family based arrangement. Where this is not possible, or appropriate, they are able to apply to the CMS.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the value was of child maintenance payments made to receiving parents under each scheme and each type of payment arrangement in each year since 2010.
Answered by Priti Patel
Information on the value of payments made to receiving parents, on the 2012 scheme, or Parents with Care under the 1993/2003 Schemes are included in the Client Fund Accounts. Previous publications can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/child-maintenance-client-funds-accounts
The Client Funds Account 2014/15 is planned for publication by the end of 2015.