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Dept of Social Security;Child Support Agency

Answer

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many absent parents have child support maintenance arrears, excluding Category A interim maintenance assessments of (a) £1 to £999, (b) £1,000 to £1,999, (c) £2,000 to £2,999, (d) £3,000 to £3,999, (e) £4,000 to £4,999, (f) £5,000 to £5,999, (g) £6,000 to £6,999, (h) £7,000 to £7,999, (i) £8,000 to £8,999, (j) £9,000 to £9,999, (k) £10,000 to £10,999, (l) £11,000 to £11,999, (m) £12,000 to £12,999, (n) £13,000 to £13,999, (o) £14,000 to £14,999, (p) £15,000 to £15,999, (q) £16,000 to £16,999, (r) £17,000 to £17,999, (s) £18,000 to £18,999, (t) £19,000 to £19,999 and (u) £20,000 or more; and what is the total amount of arrears outstanding. [43577] Mr. Keith Bradley: All children are entitled to the financial and emotional support of both their parents wherever they live. It is not right that so many non-resident parents should seek to avoid paying the maintenance which their children are due. An extra £15 million is being invested in the Child Support Agency this year and next, specifically aimed at increasing the amounts of maintenance which are paid. The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mrs. Faith Boardman. She will write to the hon. Member. Letter from Mrs. Faith Boardman to Mr. Steve Webb, dated 1 June 1998: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about child support maintenance arrears. The numbers of child support maintenance accounts with arrears in the band-widths you have requested are shown in the attached table. The total amount of child support maintenance outstanding including regular maintenance and arrears but excluding Category A interim maintenance assessment arrears at 20 May 1998 was £726,407,399 relating to a total of 301,507 cases. Over the last year the Agency has moved away from imposing punitive Category A interim maintenance assessments and has concentrated on completing full maintenance assessments. This has led to an increase in the total full maintenance assessment debt, but this puts the Agency in a better, more realistic position to increase the flow of maintenance to parents with care. This is demonstrated by the increase in the amount of maintenance collected and arranged during 1997-98 to approximately £547 million compared with approximately £400 million during 1996-97. To further increase the flow of maintenance and to help non-resident parents pay the arrears that they owe, wherever possible the Agency makes every effort to re-schedule debts; re-scheduled debts are those where the Agency has negotiated a closely monitored agreement with the non-resident parent to pay arrears by instalments. The amount of debt re-scheduled (included in the above) at 20 May 1998 was £340,207,244. This amount related to 204,098 cases and equates to 47% of the debt and 68% of the cases. I hope this is helpful. Child Support Agency full maintenance debt--£1 or greater at 20 May 1998 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Bands (£) Number of cases 1 to 999 155,790 1,000 to 1,999 42,814 2,000 to 2,999 23,592 3,000 to 3,999 15,245 4,000 to 4,999 10,461 5,000 to 5,999 7,432 6,000 to 6,999 5,673 7,000 to 7,999 4,252 8,000 to 8,999 3,341 9,000 to 9,999 2,521 10,000 to 10,999 1,912 11,000 to 11,999 1,639 12,000 to 12,999 1,205 13,000 to 13,999 888 14,000 to 14,999 724 15,000 to 15,999 531 16,000 to 16,999 403 17,000 to 17,999 305 18,000 to 18,999 206 19,000 to 19,999 158 20,000 or more 781 _________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

313 c187-9W; 43577

Session

1997-98

Subjects

Children Debts Absent parents Child Support Agency Maintenance