News story

21st October 2002

Working Mothers To Get 20% Less From CSA

Ministers Exposed in Child Support Agency Cuts Cover-Up

Steve Webb MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary, today releases correspondence between civil servants and ministers showing that lone parents will see cuts of up to 20% in their child maintenance under the new Child Support Agency (CSA) system. If Mr. Webb had not challenged the Government under the Data Protection Act, these figures would not have come to light.

Internal Government memos (attached) show that ministers were encouraged to withhold the statistics requested by Mr. Webb in parliamentary questions, because this was a “delicate area”, and ministers may not “wish to draw unnecessary attention to it.” Giving the answers would provide Mr. Webb with “fresh impetus to debate who will be better/worse off in the new scheme”.

In the end, DWP Minister, Malcolm Wicks claimed that he could not supply the information requested. Mr. Webb, expressing his disgust at the Government cover-up, said:

“I am shocked that such important information has been withheld from Parliament and the lone parents that will bear the brunt of the changes.

“Hard working single parents struggling to hold down a job and look after their children alone will be significant losers under this new system. And Ministers did not even have the guts to admit it.”

“The Government claims that shake up of the CSA will introduce a fairer system. The fact is that it will punish many lone parents.”

ENDS


Notes to Editors

Information received by Steve Webb MP under the Data Protection Act shows that under the new CSA assessment system on average:

· The average working lone parent with one child can expect to lose 19% of their assessment.

· The average working lone parent with two children will lose over 10% of their assessment.

Source: Internal correspondence detailing suggested reply to parliamentary questions asked by Mr. Webb (33267) sent to Ministers for approval – dated 01 February 2002

Roughly 3 in 5 lone parents will see changes in their assessments. Those on benefits may lose less because of changes to the benefit system which will coincide with the new CSA system.

The documents released to Mr. Webb under the Data Protection Act show that the information above was supplied to ministers by civil servants as a suggested reply to parliamentary question from Mr. Webb. The actual answer from DWP Minister, Malcolm Wicks, was given in Hansard on 27 February. It made no mention of the assessment changes given above:

27 Feb 2002 : Column 1322W
Child Support
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the change in the average payment made in child support maintenance by the non-resident parent that will result from the April 2002 scheme for (a) one child, (b) two children and (c) three children. [33267]
Malcolm Wicks: It is not possible to make firm estimates of the change to the average payment of child support maintenance as a result of the introduction of the new child support scheme. While it is expected that there will be a rise in the levels of compliance, this cannot be quantified with sufficient precision.

The new CSA system of calculating maintenance payments was due to be introduced in April 2002, however computer problems have delayed the change-over. Initially the new system will affect only new cases, but the existing caseload will transfer to the new system from a common date, when the Government is "sure that it is working well". The new rates that non-resident parents have to pay, as calculated under the new scheme, may be phased in for up to five years in steps.