Child Support Agency

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Child Support Agency logo
Child Support Agency logo

The Child Support Agency (or CSA) is a UK Government Executive Agency, part of the Department for Work and Pensions in Great Britain and the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland, launched on April 5, 1993. The CSA is responsible for implementing the 1991 Child Support Act and subsequent legislation.[1]

Overview

Child support, or child maintenance, is the contribution from a non-resident parent towards the financial cost of raising their child, paid to the person with whom the child lives, (usually the other parent), referred to as "person/parent with care". The level and conditions of payment can either be mutually agreed between the two parties, or, in case of disagreement, decided by legal means.

Prior to the launch of the CSA, child support disputes were handled by a court based system. This system did not have the power to trace absent parents, and was criticised as "arbitrary and unfair".[2] The CSA was given the task of assessing payments to ensure consistency, with the powers to collect and distribute the maintenance payments itself.

Since 1996 Durham Legal Services headed by Mike Smith LLB have assisted many parent with care and non-resident parents and are now considered to be the leading experts in dealing with child support agency problems. Durham Legal Services http://childsupportadvice.co.uk also developed the Footprint Child Maintenace Option system which runs in conjenction with the Governments own CMOptions CMEC system. The Footprint Evidence Tracker system helps parents resolve there own child support issues.

Functions and involvement

The CSA's function is twofold, encompassing calculation of how much child maintenance is due (based on current legislation and rules) and collection and transferral of the payment from the non-resident parent to the person with care.

For the CSA to become involved in a case, their services must be requested by one of the parents. Legislation also allows children in Scotland to initiate a case against one or both Non-Resident Parents. Where a person with care is on benefits, the CSA should become automatically involved. (In July 2006, plans were outlined which would remove this automatic involvement.[3]) The CSA cannot get involved, even upon request, if the non-resident parent lives abroad, if a written agreement made prior to April 5, 1993, is in place, or if a court order regarding maintenance was made before March 3, 2003 (except in cases where the parent with care claims Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance).[4]

Calculation and systems

A new method of child maintenance calculation came into effect on March 3 2003. The previous method used a "complex formula of up to 108 pieces of information"[5], by first calculating the total child maintenance required based on the children's ages, then calculating the non-resident parents income after various allowances were subtracted, and finally working out what portion of the calculated maintenance was to be paid by the non-resident parent, based on their income.[6]

Under the new method the basis for calculating maintenance has been simplified, with a fixed percentage of the non-resident parents net income being taken, from 15% for one child, 20% for two, and 25% for three or more. The maintenance was also reduced if the non-resident parent had children in their current family, reducing the payment by 15% if they had one, 20% if they had two, and 25% for three or more.[7] Cases assessed using the previous method will remain that way until the new arrangements have been proven viable[8]. Some special cases may be transferred to the new arrangements before to this, for example if the non-resident parent is also subject to a separate claim made since the new method was introduced. As of December 2005, 930,000 cases (63% of the total) remain under the old rules [9]

A new computer system, Child Support 2 (CS2) was introduced to replace the Child Support Computer System (CSCS), which was only designed to calculate the old method. However, to date, not all cases have been transferred across; of 38,300 cases under the "old rules" awaiting clearance, 16,900 are still on CSCS. Of those 16,900 cases, 13,000 have been suspended because the non-resident parent was unable to be found.[9]

Criticism

The Independent Case Examiner’s Office was set up in 1997 as an independent body to deal with complaints about the CSA. Three recurring themes are mentioned in multiple annual reports[10], namely delay (51% of complaints in 2004-2005), error (24% of complaints in 2004-2005) and No Action Taken (14% of complaints in 2004-2005). According to Department for Work and Pensions statistics[9], the average length of time for a case to be cleared under the new scheme has increased from an average of 18 days in March 2003, to 287 in December 2005.

For the year April 2006 – May 2007, Department for Work and Pensions statistics[9] show an accuracy rate of 79% (new scheme) and 83% (old scheme). Accuracy is defined as the "proportion of maintenance decisions (calculations or assessments) carried out in the reporting period that were checked and found to be accurate to the nearest penny."

Assessments based on the same financial criteria can give different results, depending on which rules the case is judged under. Non-resident parents who would pay less under the new rules currently cannot get reassessed, except in special circumstances. While the CSA plan to eventually move everyone to the same system, in the interim different people with the same current situation will pay different amounts, based solely on when the case was first assessed. One father, Mark Cook, whose monthly payments would drop from £250 to £150 if assessed under the new rules, is taking the CSA to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that this discrepancy amounts to discrimination under Article 14.[11] However, official statistics show that the average weekly liability is slightly more under the new scheme. For the years 2006-2007, the average new scheme liability was constantly £23 per week, whereas the old scheme varied from £22 to £23.[9]

In November 2004, the head of the CSA resigned amid widespread criticism of the CSA systems.[12] Sir Archy Kirkwood, chairman of Work and Pensions Committee, described the situation as "a systemic, chronic failure of management right across the totality of the agency."[13] In November 2005, Tony Blair admitted that the CSA is "not properly suited" to its job, amid reports that for every £1.85 that gets through to children, the CSA spend £1 on administration[14].[2]

Even prior to its opening, the CSA was subject to criticism, with MP David Tredinnick describing the CSA as a "sequel to 1984" due to concerns about "CSA Snooping".[2] In February 2006, Work Secretary John Hutton stated that the CSA's performance was "unacceptable", and announced that it would be reviewed.[15]

The situation eventually got so bad, that on Monday 24 July 2006, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions John Hutton MP, announced that the CSA was not working and as a result would be axed and replaced by a "smaller, more focused" body.[16]

Outstanding debt

Figures showed that it cost the CSA £12 million a year to pursue enforcement action through the legal system, more than the £8m it collected through such action 2.To increase recovery rates of outstanding debt the CSA has outsourced some of its debt to a number of third party debt collection agencies.

Planned replacement

In December 2006, the Department of Work and Pension released its Child Support white paper outlining its plans for the future of Child Support.[17]

It was announced by John Hutton MP that the Child Support Agency would be shut down, and replaced by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (C-MEC). This will be a non-departmental public body, therefore removed from the direct control of the Department of Work and Pensions (although the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions will still be responsible to Parliament for its activities).[18]

On November 15, 2007, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Peter Hain, announced that Civil Service Commissioner Janet Paraskeva would be Chair Designate of the new commission.[19]

Staff

Child Support Agency Board Members (as of June 2006)[20] include:

  • Stephen Geraghty, Chief Executive
  • Richard Arthur, Non-Executive Director and Chair
  • Mark Grimshaw, Strategic Programme Director
  • Ron Eagle, Information System/Information Technology Director
  • Alan Hardy, Finance and Business Assurance Director
  • Susan Park, Operations Director
  • Ian Pavey, Human Resources Director
  • Jonathan Portes, Director of Children and Poverty
  • Hilary Reynolds, Client and Stakeholder Relationships Director and Deputy Chief
  • John Cross, Non-Executive Director
  • Bryan Foss, Non-Executive Director
  • Bill Griffiths, Non-Executive Director
  • Peter Holden, Non-Executive Director
  • Susan Jillings, Non-Executive Director

Notes

  1. ^ The Law relating to Child Support - Department for Work and Pensions
  2. ^ a b c The troubled history of the CSA BBC News 18 January, 2006
  3. ^ Gaby Hinsliff (2006-07-16). "Fathers get debts write-off in child agency shake-up" (HTML). The Guardian. Retrieved 2006-07-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ http://csa.gov.uk/pdf/english/leaflets/old/CSA2008.pdf
  5. ^ Child support complaints up by a third – BBC News, 3 July 2001.
  6. ^ CSA 2001 - Child support: For parents who live apart (old rules) (pdf)
  7. ^ CSL 101 - Child support: For parents who live apart (new rules) (pdf)
  8. ^ Changes to child support
  9. ^ a b c d e Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary Statistics: December 2005
  10. ^ ICE Annual Reports – 2004-2005
  11. ^ Father takes CSA case to Europe BBC News, July 28, 2004
  12. ^ CSA chief resigns amid criticism BBC News, November 17, 2004
  13. ^ 'Basically, it doesn't work' BBC News, November 17, 2004
  14. ^ CSA not suited to job, says Blair BBC News, 16 November 2005.
  15. ^ 'Unacceptable' CSA faces overhaul BBC News, 9 February 2006
  16. ^ 'Child Support Agency to be axed BBC News, 24 July 2006
  17. ^ Website to Shame Absent Parents BBC News, 10 December 2006
  18. ^ DWP White Paper 'A new system of Child Maintenance' DWP White Paper, December 2006
  19. ^ "15 November 2007 – Janet Paraskeva announced as first Chair of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission". Department for Work and Pensions Media center. 2007-11-15.
  20. ^ "Child Support Agency Annual Report and Accounts 2005/06" (PDF). Child Support Agency.

See also

External links

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