Letter from the CSA - paternity testing

This was in response to a request (below) under the Freedom of Information Act.

Mr B. Pearson
(address removed)

4 August 2005

Dear Mr Pearson

Thank you for your letter dated 14 July 2005, requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. You asked:.

The number of DNA paternity tests performed each year, for CSA cases, since the CSA's paternity testing system began. And, for each year, the number of these tests, or the percentage of them, that proved paternity.

It is acceptable to supply the numbers for 12-month periods other than calendar years, for example according to the CSA's annual reporting cycle. If so, please identify the cycle. And it is acceptable to supply the number, or the percentage, which disproved rather than proved paternity.

Please indicate whether these figures apply just to Great Britain, or whether they include Northern Ireland too.

The number of paternity tests performed and the percentages of positive results are shown in the table below, from 1998 to 2005. Only 522 DNA tests have been recorded into the 2005/2006 reporting year. These figures do not include data in respect of the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency. Clerical records were collected prior to 1998 but are not accessible. The data is supplied in line with the Agency's reporting cycle that is aligned with each financial year from 1st April to 31st March.

If you are not satisfied with the information I have provided, you can ask for an internal review. An Officer who has no involvement in this decision will carry out the review.

If you are still dissatisfied you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner has powers to examine relevant documentation and decide if the information should be released. He has the power, where required, to instruct the Agency to release the information.

The Information Commissioner's address is:
(address removed for conciseness).

Yours sincerely

Dave Pearson
Child Support Agency
Freedom of Information Focal Point

My original request for information

(my address removed)

14th July 2005

Dear Sir

Please supply the following information, according to the Freedom Of Information Act.

Please tell me the number of DNA paternity tests performed each year, for CSA cases, since the CSA's paternity testing system began. And, for each year, the number of these tests, or the percentage of them, that proved paternity.

It is acceptable to supply the numbers for 12-month periods other than calendar years, for example according to the CSA's annual reporting cycle. If so, please identify the cycle. And it is acceptable to supply the number, or the percentage, which disproved rather than proved paternity.

Please indicate whether these figures apply just to Great Britain, or whether they include Northern Ireland too.

(For interest, this is similar to information in the CSA's annual report of 1997-98, and similar to information supplied in a written answer in Parliament about that time).

Thank you.

Yours faithfully

Barry Pearson