WIREDGOV

A new report, published today by the Department for Work and Pensions is the first from a programme of research designed to monitor and evaluate the reforms enacted in the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000.

The report presents findings from a survey of 2,500 CSA clients and provides information on characteristics, experiences and attitudes of this client group prior to the implementation of the Child Support reforms. It will serve as a baseline against which to evaluate whether the forthcoming reforms produce a system that is accessible, comprehensible and responsive to parents.

The main findings are:

Accessibility: Respondents views on accessibility i.e. approaching the agency and customer handling issues attracted reasonably positive feedback. Most respondents found the CSA''s letters easy to understand and the application form reasonably easy to complete. Respondents were more likely to phone the agency than to write and just under half of parents with care and about one third of non-resident parents said they were usually able to get through to a member of staff who could help them. However, nearly half of non-resident parents and a third of parents with care experienced difficulty in finding a member of staff who was familiar with their case as many people had previously dealt with their case.

Comprehensibility: Most respondents did not understand the calculations underpinning their maintenance assessment and less than half believed that the calculations were accurate. Understanding the maintenance calculation was found to be a key indicator of non-resident parents'' compliance in paying maintenance. This is one of the main areas being targeted by the reforms.

CSA Response to Customer Needs: Measures of responsiveness were mixed. Respondents generally reported that when they were telephoned by a CSA member of staff they called at a convenient time, they were polite and explained the purpose of the call. The majority of parents with care felt that staff were helpful, tactful, and sensitive. However, respondents were not as satisfied with the CSAs response to queries or complaints. Respondents generally reported the CSA to be slow in responding to queries and complaints and fewer then one in three non- resident parents and one in four parents with care were satisfied with the Agency''s response to letters which they had sent. Respondents felt that the CSA had failed to take action in response to non-payment of maintenance in a significant proportion of cases.

Notes for editors:

1. The White Paper (DSS 1999) presented a package of reforms which were designed to replace the existing child support system with one which would be ''a simple and more deliverable system focused on the needs of children and good, responsible parents''. Principal proposals in the White Paper were enacted in Part One of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000. The main changes include the abolition of the complex formula used to calculate maintenance in the original 1993 scheme, changes to the rules governing the impact of maintenance on entitlement to tax credits and benefits and a range of further measures designed to increase compliance by both non-resident parents and parents with care. The principal child support reforms are due to be implemented in new cases from April 2002.

2. National Survey of Child Support Agency Clients is published on 8th November in the Department for Work and Pensions Research Series (Report No.152 ISBN 184123 397 8). The report is available from Corporate Document Services, price #37.00). Research Summaries and a full Technical Report are also available from the Department free of charge.

3. The authors of the report are; Nick Wikeley, Sarah Barnett, James Brown and Ian Diamond (University of Southampton); Gwynn Davis (University of Bristol); Teresa Draper and Patten Smith (Ipsos:RSL).

4. The report presents findings from a face-to-face survey of 2,500 CSA clients (both parents with care and non-resident parents). The interviews were conducted in April-October 2000. This report is the first survey in a programme of research to evaluate fully the reforms enacted in the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000.

prepared by the DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS ANALYTICAL SERVICES DIVISION

Website: www.dwp.gov.uk.