5 July 2005 - Improvements to enforcement at child support agency
Work and Pensions Minister Lord Hunt today acknowledged the amount of work the Child Support Agency needs to do to gain the trust of its clients.

Following the publication of the Independent Case Examiner's annual report 2004/05 for the Child Support Agency, Lord Hunt said: “I am grateful to the Independent Case Examiner for her report. It highlights the amount of work the Agency still needs to do to improve its relationship with its clients.

“We have appointed a chief executive who is now three months into the job and is making sure that customer service is a top priority for the Agency.

We have also appointed a head of enforcement and the report acknowledges that we are improving in this area. The amount our bailiffs collected was double what we achieved in the previous year. Although there is still a long way to go, this is a step in the right direction and an indication of the Agency’s determination to improve the service it provides to clients.”

Stephen Geraghty, Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency, said:

“It is disappointing that the number of complaints from clients has increased over the past year.

The Agency’s senior management team is working to develop a new strategy which will help address the problems this report highlights. Our strategy will have our clients at the heart of it, focusing on their needs, and will set out how we will be able to provide them with a quality, sensitive and efficient service.“

yes .. published to the news area on 5 july ..

'Delay, negligence and poor process lead to increasing numbers of complaints against the CSA'