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CAFCASS

Answer

The impact of delay on the welfare of children and their families is a concern for all of the agencies involved in family proceedings and we are concentrating on addressing the causes of delay. It is also a top priority for CAFCASS and, together with the Department for Constitutional Affairs, we are working closely with CAFCASS, the judiciary, local authority social services and others in order to reduce delays in Public Law Children Act 1989 cases (cases that involve social services—mainly care proceedings and adoptions).CAFCASS itself is making progress in this area. For example, for the CAFCASS Key Performance Indicator Target for 98 per cent. of public law work to be allocated within 28 days, 93.5 per cent. was achieved in March 2005, compared with 90.6 per cent. in March 2004.Progress is also being made in Private Law work (mainly disputes between separating parents over contact and residence arrangements for their children). CAFCASS has a Private Law Key Performance Indicator Target, where the number of reports unallocated less than 10 weeks before court filing date for the month should be no more than the target of 4 per cent. of the workload. In March 2005 2.0 per cent. of cases were unallocated, compared with 3.2. per cent. in March 2004. There is an expectation that private law reports are completed within 10 to 12 weeks of the date of request being made to CAFCASS. CAFCASS also have ““managed unallocated”” cases where the court has agreed a filing time later than the standard 10 to 12 weeks. In March 2005 10.8 per cent. of cases were ““managed unallocated””, compared with 15.5 per cent. in March 2004. The CAFCASS waiting list is continuously reviewed and re-prioritised.A change in the role of CAFCASS practitioners will also contribute to reducing court delay in Private Law cases. The Green Paper ““Parental Separation: Children's Needs and Parents' Responsibilities””, published in July 2004, and the subsequent ““Next Steps”” document, published in January 2005, set out a major change of approach for CAFCASS practitioners working with families, by moving their work away from report writing to a more active, problem-solving role in facilitating agreement between parents over contact and residence arrangements in the best interests of their children.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

435 c189W; 3623

Session

2005-06

Subjects

CAFCASS