WIREDGOV

Coverage: Great Britain Theme: Social and Welfare

The Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics for May 2001 is published today.

The publication shows profiles of Non-resident Parents (NRPs) and Parents/Persons with Care (PWCs), amounts of maintenance assessments and compliance levels based on ''live'' and fully assessed Great Britain cases on the Child Support Computer System (CSCS) at end-May 2001. It has recently come to light that previous issues of the CSA QSS have over-estimated the number of Interim Maintenance Assessments (IMAs). Consequently, IMA figures have been removed from this issue of CSA QSS, pending investigation.

The main findings are:

Caseloads

The total number of ''live'' and fully assessed cases rose from 969.8 thousand in May 2000 to 995.9 thousand in May 2001, an increase of 3%.

Compliance

Non-resident parent payment compliance (May 1998 , May 2001)

Compliance data excludes cases where payment is not made through the CSA collection services or where no maintenance was charged via the regular payment or arrears accounts during the quarter.

The proportion of NRPs with a full maintenance assessment that were fully compliant rose from 48% in May 2000 to 50% in May 2001. Partial compliance was 23% in May 2001, which was the same as in May 2000, and nil compliance was 28% in May 2001 compared to 29% in May 2000.

Employment/Benefit Statuses

In May 2001 the proportion of PWCs with full maintenance assessments in receipt of Income Support (IS) or income-based Jobseeker''s Allowance (JSAIB) was 39%, with 24% in receipt of Working Families'' Tax Credit (WFTC).

For NRPs with full maintenance assessments, 53% had regular income from employment/self-employment and a further 28% were in receipt of IS/JSA(IB) (NRP employment/benefit status is taken from the CSCS and is more representative of the situation at case take-on rather than at the current time).

Maintenance Assessments

The average weekly maintenance assessment for all ''live'' fully assessed cases rose from #20.26 to #20.57 during the period May 2000 to May 2001. NRPs with regular income from working as an employee had an average weekly full maintenance assessment of #38.19 at end-May 2001, compared with #22.78 for the self employed (tables 3.3 and 4.4).

NOTES TO EDITORS

New Methodologies

(a) From November 1998, a new, improved methodology for determining the benefit status of PWCs has been used. Full details of the new methodology and the need for the change are included in Appendix C, page 46. To aid comparisons a complete time series back to August 1996 is shown in table 4.2 (page 40).

(b) From November 1998, a new, improved compliance methodology has been used to produce more stable and accurate compliance data. The change in methodology is fully explained in Appendix D, page 48. To aid comparisons a complete time series back to August 1996 is shown in tables 4.5 and 4.6 (page 42).

Background information

This publication contains data taken by Analytical Services Division''s Information Centre from scans of the Child Support Computer System. Extracts have been taken each quarter since October 1993. The first quarterly results were published in May 1996 in respect of the quarter ending November 1995. Some results from previous and subsequent extracts have also been published in the 1994-2000 editions of Social Security Statistics and in replies to Parliamentary Questions.

Until February 1995 the results were derived from a 1 per cent sample of records. In May 1995 this sample was replaced by a 5 per cent scan capturing one in twenty of the ''live'' cases on the computer system. The change in method resulted in reduced processing time and improved quality of results.

All data within the tables have been grossed to the total ''live'' and fully assessed CSA caseload for Great Britain and are representative at May 2001. As with any grossed sample the results are subject to the sampling error explained in Appendix A of the publication.

It has recently come to light that previous issues of the CSA QSS have over-estimated the number of IMAs. Investigations into the reasons for this over-estimation and what potential solution we could employ are ongoing. Consequently, IMA figures have been removed from this issue of the CSA QSS and some tables previously showing all ''live'' and assessed cases now show Full Maintenance Assessments (FMAs) only.

Child Support Agency Press Calls: 020-7238-0866 Quarterly Summary of Statistics Public enquiries: 020-7712-2171 May 2001 ISSN: 1365-6198

Issued by: To obtain copies contact:

Department for Work and Pensions Sharon Wilmshurst Analytical Services Division ASD Secretariat Information Centre 020-7962-8192

Issued by: Information Centre Analytical Services Division Department for Work and Pensions

Telephone: Press Office: 020 7238 0866 Public Enquiries: 020 7712 2171

DWP website: www.dwp.gov.uk

Statistician: Neil Sorensen Information Centre Analytical Services Division Department for Work and Pensions Room BP5201 Benton Park View Benton Park Road Longbenton NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE NE98 1YX

Telephone: 0191 225 3760 Facsimile: 0191 225 3193 Email: N.Sorensen@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

Next Publication: 29 November 2001