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Written question asked by James Wild (Conservative) on Friday, 12 December 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 16 December 2025. It was answered by Alex Davies-Jones (Labour) on Friday, 19 December 2025 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

CAFCASS: Accountability

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has recently considered measures to improve the accountability of CAFCASS.

Answer

As a Non-Departmental Public Body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, the oversight and assurance arrangements for Cafcass are carried out in accordance with the Arms-Length Body Code of Practice. Specific areas of oversight are also covered in the Framework Document between the Ministry of Justice and Cafcass, which sets out the sponsorship governance arrangements, financial management and performance reporting. The Framework Document is reviewed and updated at least once every three years unless exceptional circumstances arise. The next scheduled review of the framework is due to be undertaken by December 2026.

Cafcass is subject to regular inspections by Ofsted, At the most recent full inspection, conducted in January 2024, Cafcass was rated as “outstanding”, the key finding of the Ofsted report are available here. Ofsted also undertook a ‘focused visit’ between 21 and 23 October 2025, which considered Cafcass’s work in relation to private law proceedings where domestic abuse is a factor. Ofsted’s letter of findings is available here.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
99516
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Accountability CAFCASS
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk