Lone mothers missing out on £55million thanks to CSA

Feb 2 2008 by David Higgerson, Liverpool Daily Post

LONE mothers across the region are missing out on nearly £55m because the Child Support Agency is still failing, new figures show.

The money is owed by absent parents – overwhelmingly fathers – in Merseyside, North Cheshire and West Lancashire, who are getting away without paying towards their children's upkeep.

According to figures obtained by the Tories, the largest debt is in the parliamentary constituency of Warrington North (£3.14m), where there are 1,300 outstanding cases.

Not far behind are the constituencies of Ellesmere Port and Neston (£3.1m, 1,100 cases), Halton (£3.05m, 1,300 cases), Birkenhead (£3.02m, 1,700 cases) and St Helens South (£2.75m, 1,400 cases).

In total, £186.8m is owed by absent North West parents in 86,300 cases still outstanding. Across England, almost £4bn is owed.

Chris Grayling, the Conservative work and pensions spokesman, said: "The continued failure to get to grips with this problem is undermining the Government's efforts to tackle child poverty.

"It really isn't good enough that so many lone parents are still waiting for financial help, sometimes after waiting for years.

"Ministers keep telling us they are getting to grips with the problem, but little actually seems to be happening."

But James Plaskitt, the minister responsible for the CSA, insisted the number of unclear new cases was falling and stood at its lowest point for more than four years.

He added: "Our commitment is to get more money for more children, while reducing child poverty.

"All the other key indicators, such as the amount of money collected and even the number of calls being answered, are also moving in the right direction."

The CSA, which has offices in Birkenhead, has been condemned for failing to deliver almost since it was set up by John Major's government, in 1993.

A stinging report by the Commons public accounts commission, last year, described attempts to reform it as one of the "greatest public administration disasters of recent times".

The Child Maintenance Bill, which is currently before parliament, will replace the CSA with an enforcement commission, enjoying tougher powers.

It will be able to force absent parents to pay for their children by taking money out of their bank accounts if they fail to co-operate, imposing curfews on them and confiscating passports.

However, the commission will not tackling the backlog of existing cases in 2010. That will leave those families missing out in limbo for at least two more years.