Campaigners in the Bristol area are backing MPs who have called for the Child Support Agency to be scrapped unless it can turn around its performance within a matter of weeks. The Commons Work and Pensions Committee has said it could be years before the CSA is "fit for purpose" and urged ministers to start drawing up plans for an alternative. The committee also condemned moves to slash the agency's staff by 25 per cent while it tried to introduce a new computer system and still had a backlog of a quarter of a million cases. It called on the CSA to draw up contingency plans to be presented to MPs by Easter, in case the £456 million computer system cannot be made to work.
The CSA has been dogged by criticism and controversy ever since it was established in 1993.
Northavon MP Steve Webb said he had been receiving complaints about the CSA since he was elected eight years ago.
He called for the CSA to be scrapped and replaced with child support collected and enforced by the Inland Revenue.
Mr Webb said: "Years ago I came to the conclusion that it is a failed organisation and needs replacing. The degree of consensus among MPs is quite astonishing." Jeff Skinner, Bristol-based Fathers 4 Justice co-ordinator, said: "Every member of Fathers 4 Justice has a grudge against the CSA and dealing with them is a nightmare."
Monday, February 28, 2005
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