16 March 2007
MPs have cast doubt on plans to scrap the troubled Child Support Agency and transfer hundreds of thousands of cases to a streamlined body, claiming that more IT problems could follow.
A report by the Commons' work and pensions select committee this week suggested that the proposed Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission could struggle to manage the three administration systems for which it will become responsible.
The commission will inherit two problematic IT systems currently operated by the CSA – which have resulted in billions of pounds of backlogged payments or overpayments to parents – as well as a new system to support future claimants.
The report states: 'The CSA's current problems have shown that running more than one system is very challenging.'
The changes result from ministers' plans to shift child support claims to a system of more private agreements between parents.
The proposals emerged from a review of the CSA by former Liverpool council chief executive Sir David Henshaw, published last year, following a decade of problems at the agency.
PFmar2007
