Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to assess the (a) number and (b) causes of incorrect deduction orders.

The data requested is not held centrally. To extract this data would involve the manual review of all relevant cases to identify those deduction orders with an error and the reason which would be at a cost to the department and taxpayer.

CMS has taken positive steps to ensure the correct administration of deduction orders. Improvements include updates to CMS computer system 2012, amendments to operational procedures and inclusion in the Quality Assurance framework.

When any error is identified CMS undertake a thorough review of the case and action to correct the error. Each case is used as a learning opportunity with staff and to review and update our operational procedures to prevent future reoccurrences.