Written question asked by Peter Bradley (Labour) on Wednesday, 27 October 1999, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 9 November 1999. It was answered by Angela Eagle (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 November 1999 on behalf of the Child Support Agency.

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Dept of Social Security;Child Support Agency

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, what proportion of complaints against the CSA are investigated (a) by the Independent Case Examiner and (b) by the Parliamentary Ombudsman; what is the current backlog of CSA investigations; and what is his estimate of the length of time needed to clear the backlog (a) with the Independent Complaints Examiner and (b) with the Ombudsman; how many staff the Independent Case Examiner for the Child Support Agency employs; how many are investigating officers; and what plans he has for further recruitment; what is the trend in the numbers of complaints against the CSA being made to (a) the Independent Complaints Commissioner and (b) the Ombudsman; what is the average time for the completion of (a) Independent Case Examiners and (b) Parliamentary Ombudsman investigations of CSA cases (i) from the time when the cause for complaint arises; (ii) from the submission of a complaint and (iii) from the start of the investigation. - Inc figures and text of letter from Mike Isaac of the Child Support Agency.

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Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

337 c504-5W; 96763;96759;96761;96760;96762

Session

1998-99

Subjects

Complaints Administrative delays Child Support Agency Ombudsman Staff Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration

Contains statistics

Yes