HUTTON SIGNALS MAJOR OVERHAUL OF CHILD SUPPORT

9 Feb 2006 12:45 PM

John Hutton today signalled a radical redesign of child support in the UK as well as a package of measures that will get tough on parents who shirk their responsibilities.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions said the system of child support in the UK needed to be completely redesigned and could never in its current state be made fit for purpose. He announced that Sir David Henshaw will lead the work to redesign the system.

But Mr Hutton made clear he would also take steps to improve the level of service experienced by parents using the existing agency. He announced a Child Support Agency improvement plan involving new investment of up to £120 million to clear the backlog of cases, sort out operational problems and get much tougher on parents who do not meet their responsibilities.

Sir David will report his findings in the summer. He will consider what would be the most effective policy and delivery arrangements for child support, including:

* how best to ensure parents take financial responsibility for their children when they live apart

* the best arrangements for delivering this outcome cost effectively

* options for moving to new structures and policies - recognising the need to protect the level of service offered to the current 1.5 million parents with care

John Hutton told the House of Commons: "The sheer scale of resources required to transform the CSA clearly demonstrates that in its current state it is not fit for purpose.

"Collecting maintenance when relationships have completely broken down is an incredibly difficult task. Relationships come to an end, but responsibilities do not.

"I will not walk away from enforcing the law and getting tough on those who cheat their children out of the best possible start in life.

"It is time for fundamental change and that is why I have asked Sir David to redesign our system of child support, the primary objective of which must be ensuring the welfare of children.

"I am not criticising staff, who work extremely hard in very difficult circumstances. I believe the staff are part of the solution, not the problem and their work will be central to turning performance around."

Sir David said: "I am keen to get started and work with the team to come up with a redesign of child support in this country which will ensure it delivers to all the children who need it."

Today's announcement comes after an operational review of the Agency which was conducted by Chief Executive Stephen Geraghty.

Mr Hutton said this review had confirmed just how deep-rooted the historic problems were, but the Government had a clear duty to those already using the agency to ensure it delivered for children and parents.

To this end an operational improvement plan to stabilise and improve the performance of the agency over the next three years would go into action immediately, he said.

By 2008 the CSA will deliver:

* Compliance rates increased to 75% on the new scheme and an increasing number of cases taken to enforcement.

* More money for children - with 200,000 more children benefiting from maintenance equating to an additional £140 million in maintenance collected;

* Less Child Poverty - we will be well on our way to lifting an additional 40,000 more children out of poverty and an additional 60,000 parents with care will receive the Child Maintenance Premium; and

* A more efficient service - removing backlogs and doubling staff productivity.

"The plan will make more effective use of current enforcement powers, improving the productivity and effectiveness of the existing IT system and the ability to recover debt.

"An investment of up to £90 million from the department's existing resources will support this short term recovery, but in addition I will make £30 million available to contract out some of the agency's debt recovery to the private sector," Mr Hutton added.

The plan will also:

* involve quicker and firmer action on those who default on payment

* increase the use of deduction from earnings orders

* draw on data held by credit reference agencies to develop risk profiles, so the agency can focus on those who are unlikely to pay

Mr Hutton said he was inclined to use even tougher measures, but this would depend on what Sir David recommended.

"Last year the Child Support Agency collected around £600 million with 500,000 children benefiting as a result.

"Through this two-stage process we will radically and quickly improve the efficiency of the current operation and through Sir David's new plan to redesign the system, we can ensure the Child Support Agency will function properly and non-resident parents will never again be able to neglect their responsibilities."

Notes to editors:

1. A summary of the findings of Stephen Geraghty's review and the Operational Improvement Plan are available on the CSA website at http://www.csa.gov.uk/new/oip/ 2. Sir David Henshaw recently retired from his post as Chief Executive of Liverpool City Council. He has long and varied experience in the public sector and has been an adviser to the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit. He is currently Chief Executive of Liverpool Culture Company, a member of the board of The Mersey Partnership, Chair of Liverpool Partnership Group, a non Executive Director of the Home Secretary's National Offender Management Board (Prisons, Probation and Youth Justice in England and Wales), an adviser to the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit, a member of the Treasury's Public Services Productivity Panel, and a Board member of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.

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