Charles Kennedy

Liberal Democrats | Ross Skye & Lochaber

Kennedy Forces PM To Admit ‘Fundamental’ Problems With Child Support Agency

Challenged by Charles Kennedy at Prime Minister’s Questions, the Prime Minister was forced to admit that the problems with the Child Support Agency were “fundamental” and hinted that the CSA might be scrapped.

Mr Kennedy pointed out that in 1998 the Prime Minister had said the CSA was in need of ‘urgent reform’ but that today for every £1 spent by the CSA on its own bureaucracy, only £1.85 is raised. He asked the Prime Minister “how on earth can he defend such an appalling track record as that?”

The Prime Minister insisted that they were still “looking urgently at what the solutions may be”. Mr Kennedy replied: “He was looking urgently at the situation as Prime Minister 7 years ago. And what happened in the intervening period? In the last four years, 35,000 cases of maladministration, a current backlog of 350,000 cases, and unpaid maintenance now running at a level of £1.7 billion. What on earth does the Prime Minister mean about urgency when it comes to that kind of disgraceful record?”

The Prime Minister then called into question the future of the CSA saying that “the agency itself is not properly suited to carry out that task.”

Full text of exchange follows

Charles Kennedy: Mr Speaker, returning to the exchanges on social policy, does the Prime Minister recall back in 1998 as Prime Minister, describing the child support agency, his words at the time, as one which has lost the confidence of the public, was ‘a mess’ and was in need, in 1998, of urgent reform. Today we learn that the Child Support Agency for every pound that is spent on his own bureaucracy, only actually gets £1.85 through to the children that it’s supposed to be there to help. How on earth can he defend such an appalling track record as that?

Prime Minister: I mean, he’s right in saying that that amount of money that they get in is above, not substantially above the amount it costs to administer. That is actually a different situation to what it was in 1997 when it was the other way around, however I don’t make any defence of that. The Child Support Agency is in an extremely difficult position for a simple reason, and I think it’s as well that we’re absolutely frank about this, it is the investigating agency, it is then the adjudicating agency, it is then the enforcement agency. And the truth is, it is extremely difficult, and the staff that have to work the present system do so in conditions in of very great difficulty indeed. But I have to say to him, he should remember why the Child Support Agency, incidentally to those on the benches opposite, they were the people who created the Child Support Agency. Yes, they created the Child Support Agency and actually the administrative costs outweighed the amount of money we got in when we took over. However, having said that, it is extremely difficult and we are looking urgently at what the solutions may be to it, but I have to say, I think that the problem is a fundamental one which is the nature of the task that they are called upon to perform.

Charles Kennedy: The Prime Minister tells the House of Commons he is looking urgently at the situation, he was looking urgently at the situation as Prime Minister 7 years ago. And what has happened in the intervening period? In the last four years, 35,000 cases of maladministration, a current backlog of 350,000 cases, and unpaid maintenance now running at a level of £1.7 billion. What on earth does the Prime Minister mean about urgency when it comes to that kind of disgraceful record?

Prime Minister: We legislated on this before in order to simplify the procedure, and actually that has reduced the costs quite considerably. However, the basic problems still remain, and I’m not disputing the difficulties at all, indeed I’m saying I agree they do exist. Let me just tell him however if I could make a point that emphasises the difficulty. The vast majority of the compensating payments that 33,000 out of the 35,000 were for amounts less that £1000. I’m speaking from memory now, but I think that the…(interruption) of course it is but it also means that it is extremely difficult when it’s both at that stage the investigating, the adjudicating and the enforcing authority, to make it cost effective, And secondly, and secondly, in the majority of cases that the Child Support Agency is dealing with, in the majority of cases, the child concerned is the product neither of a married relationship, nor of a stable partnership. All I am saying is that the task that we are therefore asking them to perform, is an extremely difficult one, and I think, and I’m about to say, and I think therefore that we can not discuss the Child Support Agency in a sensible way, unless we are prepared to look urgently at the fundamental nature of the tasks that they perform, and the reasons why the Child Support Agency was set up in the first place. It was set up because the previous government, for reasons that I understand, for reasons I understand, the previous government established the Child Support Agency in order to make sure that parents carried out their obligations to their children. The truth is the agency itself is not properly suited to carry out that task.