A report that discusses the problems experienced in the child maintenance system since the establishment of the Child Support Agency in 1993. It covers the changes in legislation; the introduction of a 'twin-track' approach with the three year Operational Improvement Plan and the establishment of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.

This report calls on the Government to establish a more efficient way to administer the statutory child maintenance service, the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission. It highlights that in 2009-10 it cost £572 million to administer its collection service but that only £1,141 million in maintenance payments reached children; a cost of 50 pence for every £1 collected. The report examines the Government's proposed reforms of the child maintenance system, as set out in the Green Paper 'Strengthening families, promoting parental responsibility' (Cm. 7990. ISBN 9780101799027). The report's recommendations include: non-resident parents should be required to pay child maintenance through direct deductions from their salaries or bank accounts, ensuring that parents with care receive agreed child maintenance payments on time and at the correct level; where a parent with care has taken all reasonable steps to reach a voluntary agreement, both the proposed application and collection charge for the service should be borne by the non-resident parent; the proposals for collection charges are excessive and unnecessarily complex and should be replaced by a single, modest administrative charge; the Government must ensure that its proposed network of improved advice and support services is operating effectively in all areas before charges for the statutory system are introduced; the proposed gateway process is a positive development, as mediation and collaboration could resolve problems for separating parents at the earliest stage; the operational weaknesses of the Child Support Agency, including ongoing IT problems and a reported £3.8 billion in uncollected payments must be addressed.

Committee of Public Accounts treasury minutes are on the following reports: HCP 113, 06/07, 27th report (ISBN 9780215034311); HCP 179, 06/07, 28th report (ISBN 9780215034373); HCP 142, 06/07, 29th report (ISBN 9780215034304); HCP 189, 06/07, 30th report (ISBN 9780215034489); HCP 309, 06/07, 31st report (ISBN 9780215034496); HCP 91, 06/07, 32nd report (ISBN 9780215034571); HCP 275, 06/07 33rd report (ISBN 9780215034786); HCP 43, 06/07, 34th report (ISBN 9780215034830); HCP 729, 06/07, 36th report (ISBN 9780215034823); HCP 812, 06/07, 37th report (ISBN 9780215034878); HCP 261, 06/07, 38th report (ISBN 9780215034991); HCP 377, 06/07, 39th report (ISBN 9780215034922); HCP 368, 06/07, 40th report (ISBN 9780215035066); HCP 892, 06/07, 43rd report (ISBN 9780215035172); HCP 246, 06/07, 44th report (ISBN 9780215035271); HCP 250, 06/07, 45th report (ISBN 9780215035387)

This document sets out the Government's response to the report by the Work and Pensions Select Committee (HCP 219-I, session 2006-07; ISBN 9780215033109) on the Government's White Paper 'A new system of child maintenance' (Cm. 6979, ISBN 9780101697927) which was published in December 2006. An accompanying document (Cm. 7061, ISBN 9780101706124) which considers key issues that have been raised in response to the Government's White Paper, is available separately.

Government failure is affecting everyone. The single mum worried sick by a tax credit demand from HMRC to 'repay' thousands of pounds she never received; the family whose holiday was ruined because the Passport Office couldn't issue passports in time; the school that couldn't open at the start of term because CRB checks were being carried out by an organisation in meltdown; the farmers led to bankruptcy and even suicide by a Kafkaesque system for administering farm payments; and rail operators facing an uncertain future because the Department for Transport inadvertently landed the whole rail franchising system in chaos. Why is government getting it so wrong? Richard Bacon and Christopher Hope delve into the astonishing world of cock-ups and catastrophes and ponder why those at the top continue to fall short.

Plans by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission to reduce its spending are high risk. There is already a £44 million shortfall in the £161 million reduction originally expected by 2014-15. The Commission is reliant on raising £71 million in fee income from parents as part of its planned savings. These estimates are very uncertain, increasing the risk that additional cuts might be needed late on in the Spending Review that could have an adverse effect on services. The existing child maintenance schemes were problematic from the start and large backlogs of work built up. Efficiency has improved since 2006 and the cost of administering child maintenance has reduced. There are, however, strong indications that costs remain high and questions remain about the relative efficiency of the Commission. The Commission does not monitor staff productivity adequately and operated with duplicate management, finance and HR functions in 2010-11 because it retained the former Child Support Agency as a separate division. The Commission has 70 offices, a quite different arrangement from the head office and six processing centres originally planned by the Child Support Agency. The planned cost reductions rely heavily on the introduction of a new child maintenance scheme and associated IT system. Yet IT costs have increased and the Commission risks repeating some of the mistakes made on the earlier child maintenance schemes. The estimates for fee income include assumptions that the NAO cannot substantiate. There is no contingency plan if forecast income for the last year of the Spending Review in 2014-15 proves optimistic

On cover and title page: House, committees of the whole House, general committees and select committees