Cafcass Corporate Plan published
9th April 2003
The Children and Family Court Advisory and
Support Service (Cafcass) publishes its first full corporate plan
(2003-06) today. This builds on the interim Corporate Plan produced
in February 2002. It sets out the progress made during
2002/03 and Cafcass’ future corporate strategy following last
year’s consultation with staff and other stakeholders.
In the Chairman’s overview, Anthony Hewson OBE
highlights the progress made in a number of key areas such as the
announcement of harmonised terms and conditions for employed staff;
implementation of new contracts for self-employed practitioners;
development of a national training strategy and induction training
course of new staff and the introduction of a more user friendly
and accessible website for service users.
The Chairman explains that the strategy set
out in this Corporate Plan covers getting the service right and
developing the service. This involves channelling the
significantly increased budget of £95million into tackling current
service shortfalls and providing a more consistent level of service
across the country in both public and private law. It also includes
working with others to reduce delays in the family justice system
and increase child welfare, increasing Cafcass’ influence in the
public policy debate and using its independence and knowledge to be
an active voice for children in developing future services.
Commenting on the Corporate Plan, Jonathan
Tross, Chief Executive said,
“Cafcass has come a long way in the last two
years. We have made huge strides in completing the set up of the
organisation by putting in place the right people, structure and
systems to enable us to deliver a national service. There is much
more to be done but we are now in a position to build on the
progress we have made to develop the services we provide to
children and families.”