Charity blasts Child Support Agency for failing to collect child maintenance debt

The CSA was set a target of collecting £170m in child maintenance arrears in 2009/10. But the CSA's national statistics, published yesterday, show the agency managed only £147m – a fall of £11m compared with the previous year.

"There is an estimated £1,065m in maintenance arrears, which the agency accepts is collectable from non-resident parents. Yet it seems to lack ambition and urgency in ensuring that families, who for years have lost out on child maintenance, get the thousands of pounds they are owed," said Gingerbread chief executive Fiona Weir.

Since 2006, the CSA has more than tripled legal and debt enforcement staff. It was also given extra powers to recover debts by the government in 2008, including setting financial penalties and confiscating passports.

The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission takes over full responsibility for recovering all missed child support payments from next year. But Weir said as well as promising a bright new future, the agency "must clear up the mess from past failure".

She added that it was "shocking" that the commission, which currently oversees the CSA, has not set a target for recovering debt in 2010/11.