Written question asked by Lord Mann (Labour) on Monday, 6 October 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 9 October 2008. It was answered by Baroness Ussher (Labour) on Tuesday, 11 November 2008 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Children: Maintenance

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of children live in families receiving Child Support Agency payments.

Answer: [holding answer 9 October 2008]: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.Letter from Stephen Geraghty:"In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Commissioner for Child Maintenance.""You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children live in families receiving Child Support Agency payments (a) in total and (b) as a percentage of the total cohort. [225345]""The Agency does not hold information on the number of children who live in families receiving child maintenance payments; however information on the number of children in respect of whom child maintenance is paid is available. At the end of September 2008, regular maintenance had been received in respect of 778,200 children, 69% of the total number of children in respect of whom maintenance was due.""Further information on the number of children benefiting from maintenance payments, and the number of cases receiving regular maintenance is routinely published in the Child Support Agency's Quarterly Summary of Statistics (QSS), the latest copy of which is available in the House of Commons library or online at:""www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/child_support/csa_quarterly_sep08.asp""I hope you find this answer helpful."

Secondary information