Cafcass' immediate response to the
Select Committee Report
23 July 2003
Jonathan Tross, Chief
Executive, Cafcass, provided a first response to the Select
Committee report on Cafcass.
Mr Tross said:
“We welcome the report into
Cafcass. We will study it carefully and make a considered
response. We are pleased that the Committee acknowledges the
importance of the service, in particular the skill, devotion and
commitment of staff throughout the organisation. We also
welcome the Committee’s recognition of measures taken to increase
capacity and improve training and development. We agree with
the Committee that we need to work together with professional and
voluntary organisations to improve the service we offer to children
and families and that creating a positive climate is a joint
effort.
On delays:
“We recognise that the extent
of delays is unacceptable in some parts of the country, however the
Committee has pointed out that in some areas there are no
significant delays, and the service being provided by Cafcass is as
good as that provided by its predecessor service. Our problem
is part of a broader issue of delay in the family justice system.
All partners in the system must tackle this as a priority and that
is why we have signed up to the protocol to allocate guardians
within two days.
On training and
education:
“Cafcass shares the
Committee’s view that training and development are vitally
important. Part of our increased budget has been channeled into
this to offer continuous learning for staff. The programme
being developed with Royal Holloway includes a module which covers
ascertaining and communicating the child’s wishes and feelings to
determine what is in the child’s best interests.
On recruitment and
retention:
“We share the Committee’s
view that we need to do more to create capacity. This will build on
the increased staff practitioner base, up from 1,125 last year to
1,300 this year. Cafcass is committed to a mixed economy of
employed and self-employed practitioners. We continue to recruit
self employed contractors, make extensive use of their service and
have increased their fees and the information provided to them on
professional development issues.
On IT:
“We have decided to develop
networked solutions to our case management needs in stages, as is
good Government practice for such IT developments. The first
stage is a networked case recording system which will address the
management information needs the Committee has highlighted.
We are currently considering tenders from potential suppliers.
Mr Tross concluded:
“I regret that the Committee
chose to place so much emphasis on the history of Cafcass despite
the acknowledgement that the views of witnesses, in many ways,
reflect the Cafcass of a year ago rather than the Cafcass of today.
Also, it is disappointing that the Committee did not give more
attention to private law matters.”