“ The Government has already stated that it is not fit for purpose. It is a pretty stark fact that that judgment is correct. ”
Paul Cannon, a director of the NAO (National Audit Office)
“ The £800 million reform of the Child Support Agency ranks among the worst public administration scandals in modern times. ”
The Commons Public Accounts Committee
“ The reformed programme is performing worse than the crumbling system it replaced. To try to drag the agency out of this mess, the Government has unveiled another new plan at a cost of £320 million. And there is a review under way, which is expected to call for a major redesign of the system - three years after the last reforms. ”
Edward Leigh, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee
“ The CSA has reached a dead end, and no amount of tinkering will get it working properly. ”
Liberal Democrat spokesman David Laws
It is hard to feel anything other than "tell us something we don't already know!"
From The Times:
It costs the CSA 70p to collect every £1 of child support
Reforms of 2003 expected to cost £800m
Backlog of 300,000 cases waiting to be cleared
Average of nine months to clear each application
£3.5bn of uncollected maintenance
36,000 cases stuck in the system