Anne Parker: "The complaints are still there, but are being handled better"

But the number of people dissatisfied with the agency's response to complaints has fallen drastically, according to the second annual report of the Independent Case Examiner, Anne Parker.

Her report found that only 10% of people were dissatisfied, compared with 90% the year before.

Mrs Parker also said the agency's increased willingness to talk to complainants face to face or over the phone had improved the service offered.

But she warned that there was no room for complacency.

"It is disappointing that satisfactory outcomes in many cases are only achieved after prolonged and repetitive dialogue," she said.

"I acknowledge that the staff of the agency are constrained by the legislative framework within which they must work and that discussions to identify the position can take time.

"However, I believe that the understandings subsequently reached in many cases could be achieved much more easily."

The CSA, which deals with child maintenance, has been dogged by controversy ever since it was set up in 1993.

Spiralling caseload

The number of complaints received by the Independent Case Examiner - at 1,500, some 0.16% of the CSA's caseload, was 41% up on the year before.

Mrs Parker said this was because the agency was dealing with more cases and because of growing awareness of her role.

She said many cases were very complex and for this reason the average time needed to deal with a case which required a full investigation was 34 weeks. Some cases took more than a year to resolve.

Ninety-sic per cent of the 235 cases requiring a full investigation were upheld. Most were due to delays, errors or poor communication.

But new areas of complaint included inconsistency in handling cases, poor aftercare and problems over deciding paternity.

A further 239 cases were resolved through early resolution where the Examainer acted as a go-between between the CSA and the client.

Mrs Parker said this showed the use of early resolution showed the agency was acting in a more open-minded fashion than previously.

She welcomed the proposals for reform of the CSA contained in the government's recent White Paper, but said that action to improve the service offered needed to be taken ahead of legislation.

She set out nine targets for improving the service over the next year. They include earlier recognition of problems, proper apologies when things go wrong, more efforts to settle cases by early resolution and better explanations when clients question their accounts.

Social Security Secretary Alistair Darling welcomed Mrs Parker's report, but said more had to be done.

He added that the he had asked the chief executive of the CSA to make sure the agency meets her nine recommendations.

A CSA spokesman said: "We recognise we have a way to go in some areas, but we are confident we are getting there."