Cafcass introduces new People sub-committee

Cafcass is pleased to introduce our People Committee, a newly established sub-committee of the Cafcass Board dedicated to focusing on the wellbeing, development, retention, and recruitment of the Cafcass workforce and realising the ambition of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

The new committee will seek to make the day-to-day work of everyone at Cafcass more visible to our non-executive Board colleagues. It will focus on innovative ways to continue to promote the health and wellbeing of staff as well as monitoring the impact of a busy family justice system on their professional lives. Committee members will also be tasked with reviewing our recruitment and retention plans and to make sure that as the largest employer of social workers in England, we are providing exceptional professional experiences, talent management and opportunities to make a significant difference to the lives of all children with whom we work. This will inform our policies and wider strategy frameworks and in turn will provide assurance that we are prioritising our workforce, wellbeing, recruitment, retention, and people development initiatives.

The People Committee, which has a delegated authority from the Board, will meet at least twice a year, with membership including the Chief Executive, Director of Resources, Head of HR and Organisational Development, diversity network chairs and our specialist lead for equality, diversity and inclusion. The first meeting will be held this month.

Jacky Tiotto, Chief Executive said:

“The children, families and carers whose lives we are privileged to become involved in whether for long or short periods are directly influenced and changed by everyone who works at Cafcass. Our people are our most important asset, working hard with commitment and care to make a positive difference every day for children. I am so pleased that we are to have a committee of people dedicated to thinking about how we provide the best work environment we can, how we attract the best people to come to us, who want to stay and develop here. If people leave us, I would like them to be stronger professionally than when they joined us, more passionate about making a difference to children and able to say that they worked with an employer utterly dedicated to their development and practice improvement, all in support of stronger and more effective work with children and their families.”

Catherine Doran (Board member and Chair of the People Committee):

“I am delighted to be chairing the People Committee on behalf of the Board. Our staff are our most precious resource and it is key that the organisation continues to put their development and well being at the heart of our work . Over the last year their commitment to children and their families has shown what an exceptional group of people they are.”

Sally Cheshire, Chair of the Cafcass Board:

“We have always been committed to supporting our staff personally and professionally as they strive to deliver the very best service to the children and families with whom we work, often in difficult and challenging circumstances for all. The People Committee will focus our collective efforts on recruiting, keeping and developing our talented staff across Cafcass and putting their wellbeing front and centre of the compassionate, inclusive culture we all want and deserve.”