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Written question asked by Rachael Maskell (Labour) on Tuesday, 21 February 2023, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 23 February 2023. It was answered by Mims Davies (Conservative) on Monday, 6 March 2023 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Child Maintenance Service and Department for Work and Pensions: Complaints

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints against (a) the Child Maintenance Service and Child Support Agency and (b) her Department were accepted for investigation by the Independent Case Examiner in each year since 2018-19; and how many of those complaints were not investigated for at least 12 months after they were received.

Answer

The table below shows the number of complaints accepted by the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) for each year from 2018-19 and for this year up to 23 February for DWP including Child Maintenance Service (CMS), and for CMS only. To clarify, the number accepted is not the same as the number received by ICE.

Year:

Number of ICE accepted complaints for DWP* (*which includes CMS)

Number of ICE accepted complaints for CMS

2018/19

967

395

2019/20

821

375

2020/21

888

450

2021/22

1641

959

2022 YTD

1314

644

To note, this data does not include all cases accepted by ICE, as it also investigates complaints about organisations who deliver contracted DWP services, the Northern Ireland Department for Communities and the Northern Ireland Child Maintenance and Enforcement Division.

ICE retains information on individual cases for 18 months from the date of clearance. Of the DWP cases (excluding CMS cases) currently under investigation, 115 waited longer than 12 months from the date of receipt (this is not the same as the date cases were accepted) to the date they were allocated to an investigator. Of the DWP cases (excluding CMS cases) cleared in the last 18 months, 558 had waited more than 12 months from the date of receipt (this is not the same as the date cases were accepted) to the date they were allocated to an investigator.

Of the CMS cases currently under investigation, 243 waited longer than 12 months from the date of receipt (this is not the same as the date cases were accepted) to the date they were allocated to an investigator. Of the CMS cases cleared in the last 18 months, 627 had waited more than 12 months from the date of receipt (this is not the same as the date cases were accepted) to the date they were allocated to an investigator.

The ICE office is continuously reviewing its own processes and operating model to improve productivity. The office recruited 11 more investigators April – December 2022, and a further 6 joined in January 2023.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
149520
Session
2022-23
Subjects
Complaints Department for Work and Pensions Independent Case Examiner Child Maintenance Service
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk