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62757

registered interest
date	18/06/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in his Department have been asked to assist G4S in the delivery of the new Child Maintenance Options scheme to date; how many more staff G4S estimates will be needed to administer this contract when peak levels of applications are reached; and how much in staffing costs his Department is liable to pay as a result.
tabling member constituency	Hayes and Harlington
tabling member printed	John McDonnell
uin	201330
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The Child Maintenance Options service is not a new service and was introduced in 2008. It offers information and support to help separating and separated parents make an informed choice about their child maintenance arrangement. It is not a child maintenance scheme.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has in place planned and agreed business continuity arrangements with its supplier. This includes utilising the Department's staff to take some calls where volumes exceed contracted levels. Over the past nine months the Department has used anything from 5 to 20 people for periods ranging from minutes to hours.</p><p> </p><p>The child maintenance reform programme includes ending liabilities on Child Support Agency cases in the 1993 and 2003 schemes over the next three years and it is too early to accurately predict when peak call volumes into Child Maintenance Options will be reached. Child Maintenance Options calculates resource requirements based on forecast volumes provided by the Department on a rolling three month basis. The number of staff Child Maintenance Options employs will increase in line with these forecasts over the next three years before returning to more normal levels when the reforms have completed. The associated costs are reflected in the contract.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 24/06/2014 14:54:37 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	178 label Biography information for John McDonnell

62758

registered interest
date	18/06/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the G4S contract to provide the Child Maintenance Options programme was underestimated; for what reasons staff in his Department were assisting G4S with its work on this programme; and if he will consider transferring G4S staff under TUPE regulations to his Department.
tabling member constituency	Hayes and Harlington
tabling member printed	John McDonnell
uin	201329
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>Call forecasting volumes used as part of a re-tendering exercise for delivery of the Child Maintenance Options service were based on historic call volume data. From November 2013, Child Maintenance Options became the mandatory gateway for all new applicants to the statutory scheme, which led to an incremental increase in demand.</p><p>This, among other recent changes, added an increased level of uncertainty into forecasting call volumes, in anticipation of which the Department has in place planned and agreed business continuity arrangements with the supplier. This includes the use of colleagues from the Department in order to take some calls where volumes exceed contracted levels.</p><p> </p><p>This service was introduced in 2008 and has never been delivered in-house, and there are no plans to do so. Therefore, the transferring of staff under TUPE regulations is not applicable.<br></p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 24/06/2014 15:11:56 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	178 label Biography information for John McDonnell

62760

registered interest
date	18/06/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the cost of (a) the tender and bid process for the Child Maintenance Options contract, (b) his Department assisting G4S to fulfil the contract, (c) his Department's in-house option for continued delivery before it was contracted out and (d) bringing the work back in-house should the G4S contract be terminated early.
tabling member constituency	Hayes and Harlington
tabling member printed	John McDonnell
uin	201328
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2014 answer text <p> </p><p> </p><p>The Child Maintenance Options service was introduced in July 2008 to provide information and support to help separating parents make an informed choice about their child maintenance arrangement. As with all previous tender and bid processes for this work, the cost of the tender is within the Department's budget.</p><p> </p><p>The most recent Child Maintenance Options contract is available to view at: <a href="https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/Common/View%20Notice.aspx?site=1000&amp;lang=en&amp;noticeid=1072427&amp;fs=true" target="_blank">https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/Common/View%20Notice.aspx?site=1000&amp;lang=en&amp;noticeid=1072427&amp;fs=true</a> However, to identify specific costs associated with this contract would incur a disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The Department did not assist G4S to fulfil the contract. It is part of planned business continuity arrangements to use colleagues from the Department in order to take some calls where volumes exceed contracted levels.</p><p> </p><p>Since the service was introduced in 2008 it has always been contracted out. There are no plans to bring the service in-house, and to calculate the cost of doing so would be to provide new information at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 24/06/2014 14:36:03 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	178 label Biography information for John McDonnell

62762

registered interest
date	18/06/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Government will receive from deductions of charges and from charges for enforcement action in child maintenance cases under the Child Maintenance Options contract; and what profit will be made by G4S in running this contract.
tabling member constituency	Hayes and Harlington
tabling member printed	John McDonnell
uin	201326
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The Child Maintenance Options service offers information and support to help separating and separated parents make an informed choice about their child maintenance arrangement. The service has operated under contract to the Department since 2008, most recently by G4S.</p><p> </p><p>Once client charges are introduced they will be applied by the Department only once a client is within, or applies to, the 2012 Scheme run by the Child Maintenance Service, which is part of the Department for Work and Pensions. Charging does not in any way form part of the Child Maintenance Options contract.</p><p> </p><p>Details of the Child Maintenance Options contract can be viewed at: <a href="https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/Common/View%20Notice.aspx?site=1000&amp;lang=en&amp;noticeid=1072427&amp;fs=true" target="_blank">https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/Common/View%20Notice.aspx?site=1000&amp;lang=en&amp;noticeid=1072427&amp;fs=true</a></p><p> </p><p>The level of profit that a supplier makes through a commercial contract cannot be disclosed as this action would be prejudicial to the supplier's commercial interests.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 24/06/2014 14:19:50 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	178 label Biography information for John McDonnell

62764

registered interest
date	18/06/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls the Child Maintenance Options Service received in each month in the last year.
tabling member constituency	Stretford and Urmston
tabling member printed	Kate Green
uin	201285
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The number of successful inbound calls received by the Child Maintenance Options Service in each month of the last year is available in the table below.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Month</p></td><td><p>Number of calls received by the Child Maintenance Options Service</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May-13</p></td><td><p>7,845</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jun-13</p></td><td><p>8,915</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jul-13</p></td><td><p>10,360 <sup>1</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Aug-13</p></td><td><p>11,990</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sep-13</p></td><td><p>13,835</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oct-13</p></td><td><p>14,835</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nov-13</p></td><td><p>21,375 <sup>2</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dec-13</p></td><td><p>22,760</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Jan-14</p></td><td><p>26,515</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Feb-14</p></td><td><p>25,875</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mar-14</p></td><td><p>26,865</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Apr-14</p></td><td><p>24,565</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p>- Data Sourced from CMO Monthly MI Service Pack</p><p>- Data rounded to nearest 5</p><p><sup>1 </sup>Child Maintenance Options started providing a ‘soft gateway' to the 2012 statutory child maintenance scheme, offering parents applying to the 2012 Scheme the opportunity to explore the full range of options before making an application, including considering making their own arrangements.</p><p><sup>2 </sup>Child Maintenance Options became the automatic ‘gateway' to the statutory 2012 child maintenance scheme, ensuring all parents who wish to access the 2012 Scheme are making a fully informed decision and have considered making their own arrangements first.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 24/06/2014 13:20:48 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	4120 label Biography information for Kate Green

62766

registered interest
date	18/06/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in how many Child Support Agency cases there are (a) non-resident parents with a nil liability at present but at least one child of qualifying age and (b) non-resident parents with a zero assessment because a case has been cancelled or withdrawn or there are no children of qualifying age remaining on the case in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Pamela Nash
uin	201264
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The Child Support Agency (CSA) administers the 1993 and 2003 Statutory Child Maintenance Schemes in Great Britain.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Of the total CSA Caseload, the number of cases in which the non-resident parent has either a nil liability at present but at least one child of qualifying age (No Current Liability) or a zero assessment because a case has been cancelled or withdrawn or there are no children of qualifying age remaining on the case (No Ongoing Liability) is shown in the table below, as at March 2014:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>(a) No Current Liability</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>(b) No Ongoing Liability</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Scotland</strong></p></td><td><p>32,200</p></td><td><p>88,200</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>England</strong></p></td><td><p>287,300</p></td><td><p>822,100</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Wales</strong></p></td><td><p>22,200</p></td><td><p>61,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Northern Ireland<sup>1</sup></strong></p></td><td><p>900</p></td><td><p>1,900</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Other<sup>2</sup></strong></p></td><td><p>1,200</p></td><td><p>186,400</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Overall</strong></p></td><td><p>343,800</p></td><td><p>1,159,500</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Notes:</p><ol start="1" type="1"><li>Northern Ireland cases include cases managed by the CSA in Great Britain where the Parent with Care lives in Northern Ireland. This does not include cases managed by the Northern Ireland Child Maintenance Enforcement Division (CMED).</li><li>Cases included in the ‘Other' category are cases where either the Parent with Care has moved abroad, or where the area of the Parent with Care is Unknown.</li><li>Figures rounded to the nearest 100. Breakdowns may not sum to overall figures due to rounding.</li><li>Figures are broken down from the No Liability cases published on page 58 of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-statistics-march-2014" target="_blank">Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics</a>.</li></ol><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 24/06/2014 15:49:17 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	3909 label Biography information for Pamela Nash

62767

registered interest
date	18/06/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what contingency arrangements have been put in place by the Department's Child Maintenance Group to ensure that the Child Maintenance Options Service answers all calls promptly and there is a good service; and how often those contingency arrangements were invoked in the last year.
tabling member constituency	Stretford and Urmston
tabling member printed	Kate Green
uin	201286
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The Child Maintenance Options service has an effective business continuity plan in place, which includes the ability to divert calls to other trained colleagues and deploy a variety of telephony-based solutions such as Interactive Voice Response.</p><p> </p><p>There were around eight occasions in which contingency measures had to be used in the last year for reasons including brief local power outages, activation of the fire alarm system and occasions where call demands exceeded forecasted volumes.</p><p> </p><p>Steps have been taken to prevent or minimise any reoccurrence of these events, including the installation of an uninterrupted power supply and better forecasting as we fully establish the impact of recent changes such as the use of Child Maintenance Options as a mandatory gateway to the statutory scheme.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 24/06/2014 13:56:56 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	4120 label Biography information for Kate Green

62768

registered interest
date	18/06/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the total Child Support Agency arrears owed to parents with care is regarded as (a) potentially collectable and (b) likely to be collected in the next three years in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Pamela Nash
uin	201265
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The proportion of child maintenance arrears owed to parents with care that is potentially collectable and likely to be collected is shown in the table below, as at March 2013.</p><p> </p><p>Northern Ireland does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Great Britain Child Support Agency.</p><p> </p><p>Collectability analysis looks at the likelihood of arrears being collected and does not include a timeframe for collections.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Total Potentially or Likely to be Collected</p></td><td><p>Potentially Collectable</p></td><td><p>Likely Collectable</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Scotland</p></td><td><p>26%</p></td><td><p>13%</p></td><td><p>13%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>England</p></td><td><p>25%</p></td><td><p>12%</p></td><td><p>13%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Wales</p></td><td><p>26%</p></td><td><p>13%</p></td><td><p>13%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p>1. Geographical breakdowns are based on the location of the non resident parent in each case.</p><p> </p><p>2. Collectability breakdowns as published in the Client Fund Accounts include an estimate for collections from future legal activity. As this has not yet occurred then it cannot be allocated to geographical areas so is not included in the figures above.</p><p> </p><p>3. Proportions have been calculated using CS2 and CSCS cases only and excludes cases administered off system.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 24/06/2014 15:36:44 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	3909 label Biography information for Pamela Nash

62769

registered interest
date	18/06/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in how many cases child support arrears have been written off under the Child Support Management of Payments and Arrears (Amendment) Regulations 2012 since November 2012; and how much has been written off in such a fashion.
tabling member constituency	Stretford and Urmston
tabling member printed	Kate Green
uin	201287
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The circumstances, provided for in <em>The Child Support Management of Payments and Arrears (Amendment) Regulations 2012,</em> in which debt can be written off are:</p><p>- Where the Parent with Care (PWC) requests it;</p><p>- Where the Non-resident Parent (NRP) has died prior to 25/01/2010, or no further action can be taken to recover debt from the estate;</p><p>- Where the PWC has died;</p><p>- Where there is Interim Maintenance Assessment (IMA) debt and the IMA was in place between 5th April 93 and 18th April 95, and the assessment cannot be adjusted in light of a parent's actual income for this form of debt when it arises over that period; or,</p><p>- Where the NRP has been told that no further action would ever be taken to collect the debt.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Since the introduction of the write off powers in November 2012 the Department has written off the following amounts:</p><p> </p><p>- Financial year ended 31 March 2013 £1,133,310</p><p>- Financial year ended 31 March 2014 £15,480,677</p><p> </p><p>The Department does not hold information on the number of cases this relates to.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 24/06/2014 14:11:13 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	4120 label Biography information for Kate Green

62770

registered interest
date	18/06/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Children: Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what timetable he has set for the closure of Child Support Agency cases which do not form part of the Agency's current live caseload.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Pamela Nash
uin	201266
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/06/2014 answer text <p /> <p /> <p>The Department is prioritising the closure over the next three years of cases with an ongoing child maintenance liability, and taking steps to minimise disruption as far as possible for parents who wish the statutory service to continue collecting maintenance on their behalf. Plans for handling cases where there is no ongoing liability, but arrears are owed, are still under consideration. Where there is a link between one of these arrears only cases, and an application to the 2012 scheme, action will be taken to bring that arrears only case up-to-date, before moving it across to the Child Maintenance Service.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb grouped question UIN 201263 question first answered 24/06/2014 12:53:18 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	3909 label Biography information for Pamela Nash