Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-05-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how often powers in the Child Support Information Regulations 2008 to require suppliers of gas and electricity to (a) provide the Child Support Agency with information to confirm the whereabouts of a non-resident parent and (b) obtain account information to assist enforcement action to recover child maintenance arrears have been used to date.

Steve Webb

The powers available within Section 4(1) of the Child Support Information Regulations 2008 are used as part of the normal trace process available to caseworkers when required. However, this information is not routinely recorded for management information purposes. To provide this would require the creation of new information, which could only be completed and appropriately assured at a disproportionate cost.