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Dept of Social Security;Child Support Agency

Answer

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his latest estimate of the number of outstanding cases in north Staffordshire currently being processed by the Dudley Child Support Agency office; what is the current waiting time for outstanding cases; and if he will make a statement. [20186] Mr. Mitchell: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Miss Ann Chant CB. She will write to the hon. Member. Letter from Miss Ann Chant to Ms Joan Walley, dated 19 March 1997: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about cases being actioned by the Dudley Child Support Agency Centre (CSAS) At the end of February, the Agency was dealing with a total of 418,369 cases in which action had not been fully completed; the Dudley CSAC has responsibility for 65,467 of these cases. Information is not available, however, on the number of these cases which originated from North Staffordshire. this could be obtained only by a special clerical exercise, the cost of which would be disproportionate. The Agency measures its performance in relation to waiting times against its Secretary of State target to clear 60% of new maintenance assessments within 26 weeks, and for no more than 10% of cases to be outstanding for more than 52 weeks at 31 March 1997. As of 28 February 1997, 53% of maintenance assessments had been cleared within 26 weeks, and 13% were outstanding for more than 52 weeks. I hope this is helpful.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

20186; 292 c891W

Session

1996-97

Subjects

Children Administrative delays Child Support Agency Maintenance Staffordshire Dudley

Contains statistics

Yes