Blair hints at three-way split for agency

Tony Blair has hinted that the Child Support Agency could be scrapped and replaced with three separate organisations.

Speaking in the House of Commons last week, the prime minister said that the agency was “not properly suited” to carrying out its task of ensuring parents supported their children.

Blair added that the agency was in an “extremely difficult position” because it had investigation, adjudication and enforcement functions, and indicated that each task should be carried out by a separate body.

Official figures showed that there was a backlog of 350,000 cases and that unpaid maintenance was running at 1.7bn. They also showed that for every 1.85 spent on children, 1 was spent running the agency.