Work and pensions secretary David Blunkett described the Child Support Agency as a “complete shambles” in a national TV interview.
The agency, created in 1998 to enforce maintenance payments to lone parents, has been under pressure, particularly since a backlog built up when a new IT system was introduced to simplify the payments.
Promising root and branch reform, Blunkett told GMTV viewers that one of his main tasks was to improve morale among the agency’s 10,000 staff, who were “doing a fantastic job”.
