The Child Support Agency (CSA) was a delivery arm of the Department for Work and Pensions (Child Maintenance Group) in Great Britain and the former Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland. Launched on 5 April 1993, the CSA was to implement the Child Support Act 1991 and arrange payments for parents living with their children. [1] The CSA was abolished and replaced in 2012 by its successor, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS).
The CSA's function was twofold, encompassing calculation of how much child maintenance is due (based on current legislation and rules) and collection, enforcement and transferral of the payment from the non-resident parent to the person with care.
For the CSA to generate a mediation of payment case, their services had to be requested by one of the parents; or to generate a recovery case, the parent with care (PWC) had to be in receipt of Income support, Jobseekers Allowance, Sickness Benefit, or another such benefit. Legislation also allowed children in Scotland to initiate a case against one or both non-resident parents (NPCs).
The CSA could not get involved, even upon request, in the following circumstances (except in cases where the parent with care claims Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance):
A new method of child maintenance calculation came into effect on March 3, 2003. The previous method used a "complex formula of up to 108 pieces of information", [3] by first calculating the total child maintenance required based on the children's ages, then calculating the non-resident parents income after various allowances were subtracted, and finally working out what portion of the calculated maintenance was to be paid by the non-resident parent, based on their income. [4]
Under the new method the formula for child maintenance was simplified, with a fixed percentage basic rate being calculated using the NRPs net income (of £200 to £2,000 per week), and deductions of 15% for one child, 20% for two, and 25% for three or more. [5] Where maintenance is calculated using the basic rate, the amount of maintenance is also reduced if the non-resident parent has children in their current family. Where this is relevant, the CSA would not take into account: 15% of their net weekly income if there is one child living with them, 20% if they are two children living with them, and 25% for three or more. [6]
The Independent Case Examiner's Office was set up in 1997 as an independent body to deal with complaints about the CSA. Three recurring themes are mentioned in multiple previous annual reports, [7] namely delay (51% of complaints in 2004-2005), error (24% of complaints in 2004-2005) and no action taken (14% of complaints in 2004-2005). According to Department for Work and Pensions statistics, [8] the average length of time for a case to be cleared under the new scheme has increased from an average of 18 days in March 2003, to 287 in December 2005.
Updated statistics published in the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission Annual Report and Accounts 2010/11 [9] showed that, whilst payments were being made in 65% of CSA cases for the year April 2006 – March 2007, this had increased to 78% by March 2011.
Assessments based on the same financial criteria can give different results, depending on which rules the case is judged under. Non-resident parents who would pay less under the new rules currently cannot get reassessed, except in special circumstances. While the CSA plan to eventually move everyone to the same system, in the interim different people with the same current situation will pay different amounts, based solely on when the case was first assessed. One father, Mark Cook, whose monthly payments would drop from £250 to £150 if assessed under the new rules, is taking the CSA to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that this discrepancy amounts to discrimination under Article 14. [10] However, official statistics show that the average weekly liability is slightly more under the new scheme. For the years 2006-2007, the average new scheme liability was constantly £23 per week, whereas the old scheme varied from £22 to £23. [8]
In November 2004, the head of the CSA resigned amid widespread criticism of the CSA systems. [11] Sir Archy Kirkwood, chairman of Work and Pensions Committee, described the situation as "a systemic, chronic failure of management right across the totality of the agency." [12] In November 2005, Tony Blair admitted that the CSA is "not properly suited" to its job, amid reports that for every £1.85 that gets through to children, the CSA spend £1 on administration. [13] [14]
Even prior to its opening, the CSA was subject to criticism, with MP David Tredinnick describing the CSA as a "sequel to 1984" due to concerns about "CSA Snooping". [13] In February 2006, Work Secretary John Hutton asked Sir David Henshaw to redesign the child support system with three key areas of focus; how best to ensure parents take financial responsibility for their children when they are apart, the best arrangements for delivering this outcome cost effectively and the 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. This was announced when Work Secretary John Hutton stated that the CSA's performance was "unacceptable", and announced that it would be reviewed. [15] Sir David Henshaw was to report his findings before the parliamentary summer recess and subsequently Sir David Henshaw's Report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Recovering Child Support: Routes to Responsibility, was compiled.
The situation eventually got so bad, that on Monday 24 July 2006, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, John Hutton MP, announced that the CSA was not working and as a result would be axed and replaced by a "smaller, more focused" body. [16]
In March 2008 a website was created to challenge the CSA, allowing people to publicly post their stories and receive feedback. The website, CSAhell.com, [17] has been quoted in the national press on CSA related stories, including the BBC website [18] and the Sunday Telegraph. [19] Since its creation, the website has published almost 2,500 stories and complaints about the CSA, and has itself been criticised by the Public and Commercial Services Union. [20]
CSA arrears accumulated since 1993 totals just under £3.8bn. [21] This total remained largely unchanged between 2008 and 2011.
In December 2006, the Department for Work and Pensions released its Child Support white paper outlining its plans for the future of Child Support. [22]
On 1 November 2008, the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission took management responsibility for the CSA. [23]
In October 2011, the Department for Work and Pensions launched a public consultation on plans to abolish CMEC and transfer its functions back to the Department. This was approved after consultation and agreement by both Houses of Parliament. Responsibility for staff and functions passed from CMEC back to the Department for Work and Pensions on 30 July 2012, becoming the 'Child Maintenance Group'.
From 10 December 2012, a new system of child maintenance began operation, initially for specific applicants. It is known as the 'Child Maintenance Service', and operates within the legislation provided under the Welfare Reform Act 2012. Existing cases continue under previous legislation at present.
From 25 November 2013, all new applications for child maintenance must be made through the 'Child Maintenance Service' using the new statutory '2012 Scheme' and associated legislation. No new applications are accepted by the Child Support Agency, and existing cases are being closed on a planned progression basis, which is intended to finish by 2017/18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Child support is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid directly or indirectly by an obligor to an obligee for the care and support of children of a relationship that has been terminated, or in some cases never existed. Often the obligor is a non-custodial parent. The obligee is typically a custodial parent, a caregiver, a guardian.
The welfare state of the United Kingdom began to evolve in the 1900s and early 1910s, and comprises expenditures by the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland intended to improve health, education, employment and social security.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a United Kingdom government department of His Majesty's Government responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy. As the UK's biggest public service department it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers. It is the second largest governmental department in terms of employees, and the largest in terms of expenditure (£187bn).
Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) is an unemployment benefit paid by the Government of the United Kingdom to people who are unemployed and actively seeking work. It is part of the social security benefits system and is intended to cover living expenses while the claimant is out of work.
Jobcentre Plus is a brand used by the Department for Work and Pensions in the United Kingdom.
Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is a financial scheme applicable to students and those undertaking unpaid work-based learning in the United Kingdom and aged between sixteen and nineteen whose parents had a certain level of taxable income. It is no longer paid in England. It applies to those doing, or applying to do, at least 12 hours of guided learning on further education courses in school sixth forms, sixth form colleges and Further Education colleges. This includes a wide range of courses up to and including level 3, such as A-levels, GCSEs, BTECs GNVQs, NVQs and other vocational qualifications. Those partaking in an Entry to Employment must do at least 16 hours a week of guided study. Any missed lessons except for extenuating circumstances voids payment for that week. In 2010 the weekly payment for the England scheme were:
The Child Support Agency (CSA) was an Australian Government organisation which was established in 1988 to administer the assessment and collection of child support under the Australian Government's Child Support Scheme.
In the United States, child support is the ongoing obligation for a periodic payment made directly or indirectly by an "obligor" to an "obligee" for the financial care and support of children of a relationship or a marriage. The laws governing this kind of obligation vary dramatically state-by-state and tribe-by-tribe among Native Americans. Each individual state and federally recognized tribe is responsible for developing its own guidelines for determining child support.
Social welfare has long been an important part of New Zealand society and a significant political issue. It is concerned with the provision by the state of benefits and services. Together with fiscal welfare and occupational welfare, it makes up the social policy of New Zealand. Social welfare is mostly funded through general taxation. Since the 1980s welfare has been provided on the basis of need; the exception is universal superannuation.
Social security, in Australia, refers to a system of social welfare payments provided by Australian Government to eligible Australian citizens, permanent residents, and limited international visitors. These payments are almost always administered by Centrelink, a program of Services Australia. In Australia, most payments are means tested.
This article includes information about the child support policies of several countries.
The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Division (CMED), part of the Northern Ireland Department for Social Development, ensures that parents not living with their children continue to give them financial support. The agency began operating on 1 April 2008, replacing the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency which, according to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions John Hutton MP, was not working and needed to be replaced by a "smaller, more focused" body.
The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission was a non-departmental public body established to take responsibility for the child maintenance system in Great Britain.
Social security or welfare in Finland is very comprehensive compared to what almost all other countries provide. In the late 1980s, Finland had one of the world's most advanced welfare systems, which guaranteed decent living conditions to all Finns. Created almost entirely during the first three decades after World War II, the social security system was an outgrowth of the traditional Nordic belief that the state is not inherently hostile to the well-being of its citizens and can intervene benevolently on their behalf. According to some social historians, the basis of this belief was a relatively benign history that had allowed the gradual emergence of a free and independent peasantry in the Nordic countries and had curtailed the dominance of the nobility and the subsequent formation of a powerful right wing. Finland's history was harsher than the histories of the other Nordic countries but didn't prevent the country from following their path of social development.
Universal Credit is a United Kingdom social security payment. It is means-tested and is replacing and combining six benefits for working-age households with a low income: income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, and Income Support; Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit; and Housing Benefit. An award of UC is made up of different elements, which become payable to the claimant if relevant criteria apply: a standard allowance for singles or couples, child elements and disabled child elements for children in the household, housing cost element, childcare costs element, as well as elements for being a carer or having an illness or disability and therefore having limited capability to work.
Child Maintenance Options is an information and support service that gives free and impartial help to separating or separated parents in Great Britain so they can make informed choices about child maintenance.
The Welfare Reform Act 2012 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which makes changes to the rules concerning a number of benefits offered within the British social security system. It was enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 8 March 2012.
The Child Maintenance Group(CMG) is a department and function of the Department for Work and Pensions in Great Britain and the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland. Launched in 2012 to replace its predecessor, the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, the CMG is responsible for implementing the Child Support Act 1991 and subsequent legislation in the form of its two services, the Child Support Agency and from 2012 its long-term successor, the Child Maintenance Service.
Social Security Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government with responsibility for social security provision.
Iain Duncan Smith served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2010 to 2016. A member and previous leader of the Conservative Party, Duncan Smith was appointed to the cabinet by Prime Minister David Cameron following the 2010 general election and the formation of the coalition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. He was reappointed after the Conservatives won a majority in the 2015 general election but resigned in March 2016 in opposition to disability benefit cuts.
