To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

(1) how many (a) complaints and (b) other representations his Department has received on the actions of bailiffs in the pursuit of child support arrears in the last 12 months;

(2) how much has been paid to bailiffs in fees and charges by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission and its predecessor for the pursuit of child support arrears in the last 12 months;

(3) how many licensed bailiffs are engaged by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission for the pursuit of child support arrears.

The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Stephen Geraghty:

In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about child maintenance, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as child support is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission.

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How many licensed bailiffs are engaged by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission for the pursuit of child support arrears.

The Commission currently has contractual arrangements with three bailiff companies. In the 12 months to the end of March 2009, bailiff action resulted in the collection of over £8.9 million in child maintenance arrears, and the Commission paid a total of £1.4 million for this service.

All bailiff firms, including those contracted to the Agency, must comply with the National Standards for Enforcement Agents, a set of common standards produced by the Government as a code of practice. The licensed bailiffs, who work specifically on Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission cases, fall under the management of the bailiff companies who will deal with any complaints made to them. Information on the number of complaints made to the Commission about the action of bailiffs in collecting child support arrears is not available.

I am sorry on this occasion I could not be more helpful.