Kennedy forces PM to admit 'fundamental' problems with Child Support Agency

5.26.27pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 16th Nov 2005

Challenged by Charles Kennedy at Prime Minister's Questions, the Prime Minister was forced to admit that the problems with the Child Support Agency were "fundamental" and hinted that the CSA might be scrapped.

Mr Kennedy pointed out that in 1998 the Prime Minister had said the CSA was in need of 'urgent reform' but that today for every £1 spent by the CSA on its own bureaucracy, only £1.85 is raised. He asked the Prime Minister "how on earth can he defend such an appalling track record as that?"

The Prime Minister insisted that they were still "looking urgently at what the solutions may be". Mr Kennedy replied: "He was looking urgently at the situation as Prime Minister 7 years ago. And what happened in the intervening period? In the last four years, 35,000 cases of maladministration, a current backlog of 350,000 cases, and unpaid maintenance now running at a level of £1.7 billion. What on earth does the Prime Minister mean about urgency when it comes to that kind of disgraceful record?"

The Prime Minister then called into question the future of the CSA saying that "the agency itself is not properly suited to carry out that task."