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<p>Data is available on the number of arrears only cases registered with the Child
Support Agency (CSA). This is available in Table 2 of the Child Support Agency Case
Closure Statistics: June 2014 - September 2018 (below).</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-case-closures-june-2014-to-september-2018"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-support-agency-case-closures-june-2014-to-september-2018</a></p><p><strong>
</strong></p><p>Statistics on the total number of Child Support Agency arrears only
cases that have been transferred to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), and the number
of CSA arrears only cases on the CMS caseload are published in Table 8 of the same
publication (Child Support Agency Case Closure Statistics).</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>This
publication shows that as of September 2018 there were 171,700 CSA arrears only cases
on the Child Maintenance Service Caseload.</p><p> </p><p>Data on the number of cases
with arrears accrued within the Child Maintenance Service is available from Child
Maintenance Service Administrative Data. This shows that, as of September 2018, there
were 6,700 cases where arrears have been accumulated solely within CMS and liability
has ended. There are a further 2,700 cases with both CMS and CSA arrears where liability
has ended.*</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Case closure is part of the government’s
2012 vision for child maintenance reforms designed to encourage parents to consider
making collaborative family based arrangements.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2014, cases with
the Child Support Agency have been closed in a phased manner as part of the transition
to the Child Maintenance Service.</p><p> </p><p>To provide CSA clients with an opportunity
to consider their choice of future maintenance arrangement – including whether they
could make a family based arrangement – they are signposted to the Child Maintenance
Options service as part of the closure process.</p><p> </p><p>Following Parliamentary
approval of new regulations in December 2018, the Department is now implementing its
Child Maintenance Compliance and Arrears Strategy which includes finally dealing with
the remaining arrears only CSA cases. Where there is a prospect that it may be cost
effective to do so, we are offering parents a chance to ask the department to attempt
to collect the outstanding arrears. Arrears that are not cost effective to attempt
to collect and those which parents do not want us to pursue, will be written off.</p><p>
</p><p>*Please note that the data supplied on arrears accrued within the Child Maintenance
Service are derived from unpublished management information which was collected for
internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics
or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with
caution.</p>
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