Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 17583, on child maintenance, for what reason there is a difference between the estimated costs of (a) caseworker activity to review and update Child Support Agency (CSA) arrears and (b) establishing arrears on the CMS system set out in paragraph 93 of the Department’s final impact assessment on CSA case closure, dated 10 April 2013, and those supplied in that Answer.

Priti Patel

The estimates given in the answer to question 17583 differ from the figures in the Impact Assessment (£123m) because:

i. The actual caseload has been slightly smaller than was forecast at the time of the Impact Assessment and

ii. There has been improved analysis of the effort required to close cases, informed by the actual experience of closing cases.