Written question asked by David Lidington (Conservative) on Tuesday, 11 January 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 9 February 2005. It was answered by Lord Spellar (Labour) on Wednesday, 9 February 2005 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office.

Northern Ireland Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the average time taken by the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency is in respect of new applications under the new Child Support Scheme to (a) acknowledge applications for child support, (b) issue maintenance enquiry forms to non-resident parents, (c) issue an interim maintenance assessment and (d) issue a final maintenance assessment; and if he will provide disaggregated figures to show the respective performance of the (i) Northern Ireland operations and (ii) Eastern Business Unit. - Includes figure.

Answer: Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average time taken by the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency is in respect of new applications under the new child support scheme to (a) acknowledge applications for child support, (b) issue maintenance enquiry forms to non-resident parents, (c) issue an interim maintenance assessment and (d) issue a final maintenance assessment; and if he will provide disaggregated figures to show the respective performance of the (i) Northern Ireland operations and (ii) Eastern Business Unit. [208569] Mr. Spellar: It has not been Child Support Agency practice to acknowledge receipt of applications because of the sheer volume of material and its constantly changing nature. I have asked my officials in the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency to consider whether some form of acknowledgement would be practicable. Information on the average time taken to issue maintenance enquiry forms to non-resident parents is not held. Again I have asked my officials in the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency to review the adequacy of management information. Under the new child support scheme there are no interim maintenance assessments. The average time taken for a case to reach calculation is 15 weeks for Northern Ireland cases and 20 weeks for Eastern Business Unit.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 208569; 430 c1599W
Session: 2004-05
Subjects: Children Applications Administrative delays Forms Maintenance Northern Ireland Standards Northern Ireland Child Support Agency
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk