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From The Times
July 6, 2005

Big rise in CSA complaints

By Alexandra Frean

THE Child Support Agency was criticised yesterday for administrative blunders that prompted a record number of complaints last year.

The errors included mislaid forms, computer errors, deleted files, telephone calls “lost in the system”, inexplicable delays and breaches of confidence, according to the annual report of the agency’s watchdog, the Independent Case Examiner. Jodi Berg, the examiner, said that too many parents still found the agency “intensely frustrating” and “ineffectual”.

“The agency has not done enough to place parents at the heart of its activities. Its administrative procedures are not customer friendly and management targets too rarely appear to have parents’ needs in mind,” she said. According to the report, complaints rose for the second year running, from 2,150 in 2003-04 to 2,972 in 2004-05 — the highest yet. A total of 1,255 complaints were accepted for investigation, with 603 resolved by agreement. Of the 478 that went forward for adjudication, 89 per cent were fully or partially upheld.

Stephen Geraghty, the new chief executive of the agency, said that it was already addressing the shortcomings highlighted in the report.

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