The Child Support Agency (CSA) was a delivery arm of the

Department for Work and Pensions , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

(Child Maintenance Group) in

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and the former Department for Social Development in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. Launched on 5 April 1993, the CSA was to implement the

Child Support Act 1991 The Child Support Act is an Act of the New Zealand Parliament that was passed in 1991. It was passed to reform the legislation around domestic maintenance payments that, at the time, was perceived as being ineffective. The new legislation enab ...

and arrange payments for parents living with their children.The Law relating to Child Support
- Department for Work and Pensions The CSA was abolished and replaced in 2012 by its successor, the

Child Maintenance Service 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 ...

(CMS).

Functions and involvement

The CSA's function was twofold, encompassing calculation of how much child maintenance is due (based on current

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...

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 Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

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 Income Support is an income-related benefit in the United Kingdom for some people who are on a low income, but have a reason for not actively seeking work. Claimants of Income Support may be entitled to certain other benefits, for example, Housin ...

or Jobseekers Allowance): * if the non-resident parent lives abroad; * if a written

agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus, a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of law ** Meeting ...

made prior to April 5, 1993, is in place; * if a

court order A court order is an official proclamation by a judge (or panel of judges) that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing, a trial, an appeal or other court proceedings. Such ruling requires or authorizes the carrying out ...

regarding maintenance was made before March 3, 2003.

Calculation and systems

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",Child support complaints up by a third
– BBC News, 3 July 2001. 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.CSA 2001 - Child support: For parents who live apart
(old rules) (pdf) Under the new method the formula for child maintenance was simplified, with a fixed

percentage In mathematics, a percentage (from la, per centum, "by a hundred") is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. It is often denoted using the percent sign, "%", although the abbreviations "pct.", "pct" and sometimes "pc" are also use ...

basic rate being calculated using the NRPs

net income In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest ...

(of £200 to £2,000 per week), and deductions of 15% for one child, 20% for two, and 25% for three or more. 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.How is Child Maintenance Worked Out?
(pdf)

Criticism

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,
– 2004-2005 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,Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary Statistics: December 2005
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 The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission was a non-departmental public body established to take responsibility for the child maintenance system in Great Britain. The Commission’s primary objective was to maximise the number of effecti ...

Annual Report and Accounts 2010/11
CMEC Annual Report and Accounts 2010/11 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 The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...

, claiming that this discrepancy amounts to

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of Racial discrimination, r ...

under Article 14.Father takes CSA case to Europe
BBC News, July 28, 2004 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. In November 2004, the head of the CSA resigned amid widespread criticism of the CSA systems.CSA chief resigns amid criticism
BBC News, November 17, 2004 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."'Basically, it doesn't work'
BBC News, November 17, 2004 In November 2005,

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...

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.The troubled history of the CSA
BBC News 18 January 2006CSA not suited to job, says Blair
BBC News, 16 November 2005. Even prior to its opening, the CSA was subject to criticism, with MP David Tredinnick describing the CSA as a "sequel to

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

" due to concerns about "CSA Snooping". In February 2006, Work Secretary John Hutton asked

Sir David Henshaw Sir David Henshaw was the Chief Executive of Liverpool City Council, from 1998 to 2005. He was knighted in the 2004 Birthday Honours. He was tasked with an investigations into administrative problems at the Child Support Agency The Child Supp ...

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.'Unacceptable' CSA faces overhaul
BBC News, 9 February 2006 Sir David Henshaw was to report his findings before the parliamentary summer recess and subsequentl
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.'Child Support Agency to be axed
BBC News, 24 July 2006 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,CSAhell.com
CSAhell.com has been quoted in the national press on CSA related stories, including the BBC websiteHome DNA kits to test paternity go on sale in shops
BBC Newsbeat, February 1st 2011 and the Sunday Telegraph.
Sunday Telegraph, February 5th 2011 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 The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) is the sixth largest trade union in the United Kingdom. Most of its members work in UK government departments and other public bodies. History The union was founded in 1998 by the merger of th ...

.CSA Staff Under Attack
Public and Commercial Services Union

Outstanding debt

CSA arrears accumulated since 1993 totals just under £3.8bn. This total remained largely unchanged between 2008 and 2011.

Replacement

In December 2006, the

released its Child Support

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...

outlining its plans for the future of Child Support.Website to Shame Absent Parents
BBC News, 10 December 2006 On 1 November 2008, the

took management responsibility for the CSA. In October 2011, the

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.

Notes

External links

Official CSA websiteThe independent Case ExaminerDWP official statistics
{{John Major Child support Child welfare in the United Kingdom Defunct executive agencies of the United Kingdom government Department for Work and Pensions Family law in the United Kingdom