CHILD SUPPORT AGENCY - QUARTERLY SUMMARY OF STATISTICS (QSS) NOVEMBER 2000

15 Feb 2001 12:00 AM

The Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics for November 2000 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 assessed Great Britain cases on the Child Support Computer System (CSCS) at end-November 2000. The main findings are shown below.

Caseloads

The total number of ''live'' and assessed cases rose from 998.5 thousand in November 1999 to 1,044.5 thousand in November 2000. Of the ''live'' November 2000 caseload, 989.9 thousand had a full maintenance assessment and 54.6 thousand an interim maintenance assessment where the NRP had not provided all of the requested details.

Employment/Benefit Statuses

In November 2000 the proportion of PWCs with full maintenance assessments in receipt of Income Support (IS) or income-based Jobseeker''s Allowance (JSAIB) was 41%, with 24% in receipt of Working Families'' Tax Credit (WFTC).

WFTC was introduced on 6 October 1999 and is payable to families where either the claimant or their partner work for at least 16 hours a week and are responsible for one or more children. Claimants of Family Credit were transferred over to WFTC over a 6-month period between October 1999 and April 2000. A full time series is shown in table 4.2 on page 40.

For NRPs with full maintenance assessments, 53% had regular income from employment/self-employment and a further 29% were in receipt of IS/JSA(IB).

Maintenance Assessments

The average weekly maintenance assessment for all ''live'' fully assessed cases rose slightly from #20.10 to #20.33 during the period November 1999 to November 2000. The average weekly maintenance for interim assessments fell from #89.98 to #87.45 over the same period. However, these averages include a large proportion of Non-resident Parents on benefits, or without a regular source of income, who have been assessed to pay zero or the minimum amount (currently #5.20 per week). NRPs with regular income from working as an employee had an average weekly full maintenance assessment of #38.30 at end-November 2000, compared with #22.83 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 1994-1999 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 assessed CSA caseload for Great Britain and are representative at August 2000. As with any grossed sample the results are subject to the sampling error explained in Appendix A of the publication.

Child Support Agency Press Calls: 020-7238-0866 Quarterly Summary of Statistics Public enquiries: 020-7712-2171 August 2000 ISSN: 1365-6198

Issued by: To obtain copies contact: Department of Social Security Sharon Wilmshurst Analytical Services Division ASD Secretariat Information Centre 020-7962-8192