Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of outstanding child maintenance arrears currently owed by non-resident parents with a weekly assessment value set at zero are owed (a) by non-resident parents with a current nil liability but at least one child of qualifying age and (b) by non-resident parents with a zero assessment because a case has been cancelled or withdrawn, or there are no children of qualifying age remaining on the case in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland.

The Child Support Agency (CSA) administers the 1993 and 2003 Statutory Child Maintenance Schemes in Great Britain.

The proportion of outstanding arrears owed by non-resident parents with no assessment value makes up 72.9% of the total value of arrears.

The table below is the proportion of outstanding arrears owed by non-resident parents with no assessment value, broken down into cases in which the non-resident parent has either a nil liability at present but at least one child of qualifying age (No current liability) or a zero assessment because a case has been cancelled or withdrawn or there are no children of qualifying age remaining on the case (No ongoing liability). Data is as at March 2014:

Notes:

1. Northern Ireland cases include cases managed by the CSA in Great Britain where the Parent with Care lives in Northern Ireland. This does not include cases managed by the Northern Ireland Child Maintenance Enforcement Division (CMED).
2. Cases included in the ‘Other' category are cases where either the Parent with Care has moved abroad, or where the area of the Parent with Care is Unknown.
3. Proportion of Arrears are based on the overall amount of arrears owed by cases with no assessment value in the Outstanding Arrears tables on page's 36 and 37 of the Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics