---

Dept for Education and Skills

Answer

Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what budget has been allocated to the Children and Family Courts Advisory Service in each of the last two years; and how many staff have been employed by the Service in each of the last two years. [201862] Margaret Hodge: The budget for CAFCASS has increased steadily since its formation in April 2001. CAFCASS's budget allocation in 2002-03 was £84.5 million (on a cash basis and including £4 million unspent from 2001-02). The baseline budget for 2003-04 was £95 million. In addition, £2.5 million was provided to help with the transition from cash to resource accounting. The total cost for the running of CAFCASS in the financial year 2003-04 was £99 million. The budget allocation for 2004-05 is £107 million, representing an increase of £12 million over the baseline budget. The total numbers of staff (full-time and part-time) employed at 1 April 2003 and 1 April 2004 were as follows: 1 April 2003 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Number Full time 1,306 Part time 578 Total staff 1,884 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. In addition, there were 406 self-employed CAFCASS practitioners on 1 April 2003. 1 April 2004 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Number Full time 1,360 Part time 558 Total staff 1,918 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. In addition, there were 441 self-employed CAFCASS practitioners on 1 April 2004. Note: The discrepancy between the total figures given here (1,884 and 1,918) and those quoted in the CAFCASS 2003-04 Annual Report (1,879 and 1,932) is because CAFCASS subsequently undertook a data cleansing exercise of its management information systems and redefined the criteria used for employed staff. Furthermore, CAFCASS had included Board members and agency staff in its historical data.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

201862; 429 c812W;429 c816W

Session

2004-05

Subjects

CAFCASS Finance Staff

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk