How many CMS case workers are furlough Ed as part of Covid-19

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Dear Child Maintenance Service,

I have an ongoing complaint against the CMS and a fundamental part of this is a summary of what I should have been paid (via direct pay) and what I was actually paid. This relates to the period from March 2018 to date. In August 2019 I was informed that I would receive a response as a matter of priority. This information has still not been made available.

I was informed at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown (end March /early April) that all payments to me would be suspended until all payment information was up to date, but that this would take time due to staff shortages as a result of Covid-19.

Please can you tell me how many staff have been furloughed and what % of staff are operational.

Yours faithfully,

Elizabeth Ogg
Case 121024315159

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Child Maintenance Service

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Operations FOI Team,

1 Attachment

Dear Elizabeth Ogg,

I am writing in response to your request for information, received 3 June.

Your response is attached

Yours sincerely,

DWP Operations FOI Team

Dear Child Maintenance Service,

I understand from your reply that no staff have been furloughed, so work on cases should be continuing without any issues due to staff shortages as a result of the Furlough scheme.

My reference to 'operational', is to establish if there are any staff shortages due to sickness. At the end of March/beginning of April I was informed that there would be delays to my case (issues ongoing since March 2018), due to Covid-19. I would like to know to what extent staffing levels have been affected (i.e. The % of staff who are available to work on CMA cases) since March 23rd 2020. All the information required to resolve the issues on my case is held by the CMA so I would like to know the impact of Covid-19 so as to help me understand why my case is not being progressed and as a result I am receiving no maintenance for my son

Yours faithfully,

Elizabeth Ogg

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Child Maintenance Service

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been accepted by the DWP FOI mailbox.
 
If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally expect
a response within 20 working days.
 
However please be advised that due to the current situation with COVID-19
we cannot guarantee a response within this timescale.
 
Every effort is being made to respond to FOIs as we would usually but the
current situation means that available Departmental resources will be
needed on other high priority areas.
 
We kindly ask for your understanding during this unprecedented situation
and we will aim to deal with your FOI request as soon as is practically
possible.
 
Email FOI responses will be issued from [1][email address]
We recommend that you add this address to your email contacts otherwise
the response may be treated as Spam or Junk mail.  
 
Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.
 
[2]http://www.gov.uk/dwp
 
 

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2. http://www.gov.uk/dwp

Operations FOI Team,

Our ref: FOI2020/32753

Contact email: [1][email address]

Dear Elizabeth Ogg,

Thank you for your request for information which was received on 29th
June. Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

You can normally expect a response to your FoI request within 20 working
days. However due to the current situation with COVID-19 it may not be
possible for us to reply to you within this timeframe.

The DWP will make every effort to respond to FOIs as we would usually but
the current situation may mean that available Departmental resources are
needed on other high priority areas.

We kindly ask for your understanding during this unprecede nted situation
and we will aim to deal with your FOI request as soon as is practically
possible.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact the department
using the email address and reference number above.

Yours sincerely,

DWP Central FoI Team

Department for Work and Pensions

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Operations FOI Team,

1 Attachment

Dear Elizabeth Ogg,

I am writing in response to your request for information, received 29
June.

Your response is attached

Yours sincerely,

DWP Operations FOI Team

Emily left an annotation ()

This pretty much proves what we all thought, child maintenance is considered the lowest of the low priority for this government. It seems it's fine for children to suffer.