These are matters for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). I have asked the chief executive of CAFCASS to write to the noble Lord and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

These are matters for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). I have asked the chief executive of CAFCASS to write to the noble Lord and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

These are matters for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). I have asked the chief executive of CAFCASS to write to the noble Lord and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

[holding answer 18 September 2012]: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has made no such assessment as the deployment of staff is a matter for the CAFCASS chief executive. Anthony Douglas, the chief executive, has written to the hon. Member on this issue and a copy of his letter has been placed in the House Libraries.

Letter from Anthony Douglas, dated 18 September 2012:

I am writing to you in order to provide an answer to the Parliamentary Question that you tabled recently.

Since summer 2010, Cafcass and its trade unions representing front line staff (NAPO and Unison) have worked closely together to identify and address issues in relation to the workloads of our Family Court Advisers. A workload weighting tool, which was trialled in 2011, was revised in June 2012 and this revised tool is now in the process of being implemented. It incorporates a number of adjustments, intended more accurately to reflect the actual 'weight' of the various types of work that are undertaken by Cafcass practitioners. It also reflects the proportionate working expectations set out in the Cafcass Operating Framework, which was published in April 2012.

Please see the following table which indicates the proportion of Family Court Advisers assigned to a workload weighting band in each Cafcass region.

Some caution needs to be exercised over the interpretation of this data, as it is possible not all data has been added to the Cafcass Case Management System. However, we are confident the dataset is becoming progressively more accurate. As has been the case since the launch of the trial version of the workload weighting tool in March 2011, all information has been made available to our trade unions both through full access to the system and through regular reports.

The use of the bands is intended to enable practitioners and their managers to have a sound, transparent basis on which to monitor the 'weight' of the work being undertaken and to ensure that when practitioners are carrying workloads that lie outside the 'expected' (green) band, attention is paid to the issue within supervision and through management oversight of the work of the local team as a whole.

In addition, we have used the workload weighting system as a basis for allocating additional resources to hard-pressed teams, where many of the practitioners were in the higher bands over a sustained period.

[holding answer 18 September 2012]: CAFCASS is an independent body with its own procedures. Operational issues, including staff workloads, are the responsibility of the chief executive. Anthony Douglas, the chief executive, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of his response has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Letter from Anthony Douglas, dated 18 September 2012:

I am writing to you in order to provide an answer to the Parliamentary Question that you tabled recently.

Since summer 2010, Cafcass and its trade unions representing front line staff (NAPO and Unison) have worked closely together to identify and address issues in relation to the workloads of our Family Court Advisers. A workload weighting tool, which was trialled in 2011, was revised in June 2012 and this revised tool is now in the process of being implemented. It incorporates a number of adjustments, intended more accurately to reflect the actual 'weight' of the various types of work that are undertaken by Cafcass practitioners. It also reflects the proportionate working expectations set out in the Cafcass Operating Framework, which was published in April 2012.

Please see the following table which indicates the proportion of Family Court Advisers assigned to a workload weighting band in each Cafcass region.

Some caution needs to be exercised over the interpretation of this data, as it is possible not all data has been added to the Cafcass Case Management System. However, we are confident the dataset is becoming progressively more accurate. As has been the case since the launch of the trial version of the workload weighting tool in March 2011, all information has been made available to our trade unions both through full access to the system and through regular reports.

The use of the bands is intended to enable practitioners and their managers to have a sound, transparent basis on which to monitor the 'weight' of the work being undertaken and to ensure that when practitioners are carrying workloads that lie outside the 'expected' (green) band, attention is paid to the issue within supervision and through management oversight of the work of the local team as a whole.

In addition, we have used the workload weighting system as a basis for allocating additional resources to hard-pressed teams, where many of the practitioners were in the higher bands over a sustained period.

CAFCASS budget for 2012-13 was confirmed in the remit letter of March 2012 and is as follows:

No decision about future funding has yet been made. However, in light of the current climate, all Government spending is subject to regular review. The future staffing numbers will, to a large extent, depend on the budget for the service.

CAFCASS budget for 2012-13 was confirmed in the remit letter of March 2012 and is as follows:

No decision about future funding has yet been made. However, in light of the current climate, all Government spending is subject to regular review. The future staffing numbers will, to a large extent, depend on the budget for the service.

Cafcass is an independent body with its own procedures. Operational issues, including staff workloads and sickness are the responsibility of the chief executive. Anthony Douglas, the chief executive of Cafcass has written to the hon. Member and a copy of his response has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Letter from Anthony Douglas, dated 12 June 2012:

I am writing to you in order to provide answers to the two Parliamentary Questions that you tabled recently:

PQ111159 - To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service employees are on long term sick leave due to stress.

Cafcass currently has one member of staff on long term sick leave due to stress.

Please note: 4 weeks (28 days) or more constitutes long term sickness. Fewer than 4 weeks (1-27 days) constitutes short-term.

PQ 111162 -To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps (a) he and (b) Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) corporate management are taking to address the workloads of CAFCASS practitioners in offices where over 25 per cent, 50 per cent and 90 per cent of practitioners are working a high red or high amber workload weight.

Cafcass workloads have increased due to the rise in demand faced by all agencies in the child protection and family justice systems. Cafcass is committed to ensuring every child referred to us receives a service, and our staff are also committed to that objective. In recognition of these increased pressures, we introduced a workload weighting tool in March 2011 on a trial basis. Working with our trade unions, we have been refining the methodology since.

As at 1 June 2012, which is the final month during which data is being produced using the weightings based on the March 2011 trial workload weighting tool, there were 52 teams where 25% or more of the Family Court Advisers (FCAs) were in the high amber or high red bands. There were 28 teams (drawn from among the 52 teams) where there were 50% or more of the FCAs in the high amber or high red bands. There were no teams where 90% or more of the FCAs were in the high amber and high red bands.

Each monthly report is given active consideration by the operational managers to whom it is distributed, with a view to gaining a fuller understanding of the workload pressures that are being experienced by teams and, in the case of first line managers (Service Managers), individual members of staff.

Cafcass is an independent body with its own procedures. Operational issues, including staff workloads and sickness are the responsibility of the chief executive. Anthony Douglas, the chief executive of Cafcass has written to the hon. Member and a copy of his response has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Letter from Anthony Douglas, dated 12 June 2012:

I am writing to you in order to provide answers to the two Parliamentary Questions that you tabled recently:

PQ111159 - To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service employees are on long term sick leave due to stress.

Cafcass currently has one member of staff on long term sick leave due to stress.

Please note: 4 weeks (28 days) or more constitutes long term sickness. Fewer than 4 weeks (1-27 days) constitutes short-term.

PQ 111162 -To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps (a) he and (b) Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) corporate management are taking to address the workloads of CAFCASS practitioners in offices where over 25 per cent, 50 per cent and 90 per cent of practitioners are working a high red or high amber workload weight.

Cafcass workloads have increased due to the rise in demand faced by all agencies in the child protection and family justice systems. Cafcass is committed to ensuring every child referred to us receives a service, and our staff are also committed to that objective. In recognition of these increased pressures, we introduced a workload weighting tool in March 2011 on a trial basis. Working with our trade unions, we have been refining the methodology since.

As at 1 June 2012, which is the final month during which data is being produced using the weightings based on the March 2011 trial workload weighting tool, there were 52 teams where 25% or more of the Family Court Advisers (FCAs) were in the high amber or high red bands. There were 28 teams (drawn from among the 52 teams) where there were 50% or more of the FCAs in the high amber or high red bands. There were no teams where 90% or more of the FCAs were in the high amber and high red bands.

Each monthly report is given active consideration by the operational managers to whom it is distributed, with a view to gaining a fuller understanding of the workload pressures that are being experienced by teams and, in the case of first line managers (Service Managers), individual members of staff.