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Written question asked by Tim Yeo (Conservative) on Thursday, 7 November 2013, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 12 November 2013 (named day). It was answered by Edward Timpson (Conservative) on Tuesday, 12 November 2013 on behalf of the Department for Education.

CAFCASS

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many complaints have been lodged against Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in each of the last 10 years in (a) the UK, (b) East Anglia and (c) South Suffolk constituency.

Answer

The following table sets out the numbers of complaints lodged against the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) in the relevant areas. The national figures are for England (CAFCASS does not cover Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland).

National
 East Anglia
 Suffolk
2005/06
 132
 3
 1
2006/07
 661
 27
 11
2007/08
 743
 27
 10
2008/09
 1,075
 47
 12
2009/10
 1,264
 68
 11
2010/11
 1,064
 66
 8
2011/12
 1,265
 69
 12
2012/13
 1,495
 88
 24
2013/14 to date
 880
 57
 5

This information is taken from the CAFCASS national case management system. This is a live system and figures are subject to change as updates are made. The data in the table include both public and private law cases.

The data are collated at local area team level. Figures for East Anglia are based on the Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire area teams. Figures for Suffolk are based on the Suffolk area team whose boundaries are broadly comparable to those of the Suffolk constituency area.

The figures show a rising trend in complaints. This reflects the much higher volume of cases being handled together with two other factors—the increased advertising

of the complaints service and improvements in the way complaints are recorded and the service is delivered.

The information requested is only available from 2005/06.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
175244; 570 cc602-3W
Session
2013-14
Subjects
Complaints CAFCASS
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk