Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full-time equivalent investigators are employed by the Independent Case Examiner; and what the average number of cases is managed by each case worker per year.

As of 14 July 2021 there were 14 child support cases awaiting preliminary screening, which equates to 1.3% of all current child support cases held.

Data on the average time it took to complete preliminary screening and register cases in the last calendar year is not recorded. The Independent Case Examiner (ICE) office aims to complete this preliminary screening and register the case within two working days.

The cases that reach the ICE are the most complex and usually require investigation. Complainants are kept updated about the timings involved with their case and the vast majority are satisfied with the service they receive. Of the cases held on 14 July 2021, there were 824 cases awaiting allocation to an investigator, which equates to 40% of cases held.

The average time taken from complaint acceptance date to allocation to an investigation case manager in all ICE cases is 64.6 weeks.

The ICE office currently has 44 (42.06 FTE) investigators. A further 5 investigators have recently been recruited and are due to be post in August and September. Investigators hold between 7 and 11 cases at any given time, depending on complexity.

Investigators have a case holding of between 7 and 11 cases at any given time (depending on complexity) and there is an expectation they will pass between 27 and 42 cases (again depending on complexity) through for the ICE to consider.