Morale hit by closure of CSA, says union

The scrapping of the Child Support Agency (CSA), announced by the government yesterday, will lead to uncertainty and falling staff morale, a union has warned.

The CSA is to be replaced with a smaller body as part of a radical reform of the child maintenance system.

Work and pensions secretary John Hutton said the agency was not working, had a backlog of 300,000 cases and debts of £3bn, with little prospect that the money will be recovered.

But Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), said key questions remain over the shape of new organisation.

“The proposals do little for staff morale, fuelling fears of more job cuts, outsourcing and privatisation which would lead to a poorer and more fragmented service and do little to restore the confidence of the public,” he said.