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Written question asked by Geoffrey Hoon (Labour), in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 24 January 1997. It was answered by Andrew Mitchell (Conservative) on Friday, 24 January 1997 on behalf of the Child Support Agency.

Dept of Social Security;Child Support Agency

Question
How many Child Support Agency cases of a maintenance enquiry form being incorrectly issued following an identity check of the absent parent against centrally held departmental records have been recorded by his Department on the latest date for which figures are available. - Text of letter from Ann Chant of Child Support Agency. Inc figs.
Answer

Mr. Hoon: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many Child Support Agency cases of a maintenance inquiry form being incorrectly issued following an identity check of the absent parent against centrally held departmental records have been recorded by his Department on the latest date for which figures are available. [11160] Mr. Andrew 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 Ann Chant to Mr. Geoffrey Hoon, dated 23 January 1997: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about maintenance enquiry forms by the Child Support Agency. The Agency has monitored the numbers of incorrectly issued maintenance enquiry forms (MEFs) only since April 1994. Information is not therefore available for the first year of operation. Before any MEF is issued, the identity of the absent parent concerned is verified against the Department's Central Index. A MEF can be issued incorrectly either where the parent with care has given the Agency incorrect or incomplete information or where the Agency has incorrectly identified an absent parent. From April 1996, I am able to provide a breakdown of figures identifying clearly who was responsible for the incorrect MEF issue. In the period 1 April 1994 to 30 November 1996 (the latest date for which published figures are available), the Agency recorded a total of 186 incorrectly issued MEFs. The majority (115) occurred in 1994/95, with a further 45 in the following year. In the current year (since 1 April 1996) the figure is 26; of these, 11 were the fault of the Agency. In total, these cases represent 0.03% of the total number of MEFs issued in the same period, i.e. approximately 605,000. I hope this is helpful.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
11160; 288 c770-1W
Session
1996-97
Subjects
Children Absent parents Child Support Agency Maintenance
Contains statistics
Yes