Annual summaries
Our annual summaries show the year-on-year cases received for public and private law and care applications. It also includes the annual length of care and supervision cases and a national picture of applications in England.
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Number of public law cases received
April 2020 – March 2021
- Between April 2020 and March 2021 Cafcass received a total of 17,592 children’s cases.
April 2019 – March 2020
- Between April 2019 and March 2020 Cafcass received a total of 18,052 children’s cases.
April 2018 – March 2019
- Between April 2018 and March 2019 Cafcass received a total of 18,374 children’s cases.
April 2017 – March 2018
- Between April 2017 and March 2018 Cafcass received a total of 18,847 children’s cases.
April 2016 – March 2017
- Between April 2016 and March 2017 Cafcass received a total of 18,752 children’s cases.
Updates to this information is published on an annual basis.
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Number of care applications received
April 2020 – March 2021
- Between April 2020 and March 2021 Cafcass received a total of 12,786 applications.
- This figure is 2.39% lower when compared with the previous financial year.
April 2019 – March 2020
- Between April 2019 and March 2020 Cafcass received a total of 13,100 applications.
- This figure is 3.5% lower when compared with the previous financial year.
April 2018 – March 2019
- Between April 2018 and March 2019 Cafcass received a total of 13,575 applications.
- This figure is 4.5% lower when compared with the previous financial year.
April 2017 – March 2018
- Between April 2017 and March 2018 Cafcass received a total of 14,222 applications.
- This figure is 2.7% lower when compared with the previous financial year.
April 2016 – March 2017
- Between April 2016 and March 2017 Cafcass received a total of 14,599 applications.
- This figure is 14% higher when compared with the previous financial year.
Updates to this information is published on an annual basis.
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Number of private law cases received
April 2020 – March 2021
- Between April 2020 and March 2021 Cafcass received a total of 45,780 new private law cases.
- This figure shows a 0.8% increase compared with the previous financial year.
April 2019 – March 2020
- Between April 2019 and March 2020 Cafcass received a total of 45,694 new private law cases.
- This figure shows a 4.20% increase compared with the previous financial year.
April 2018 – March 2019
- Between April 2018 and March 2019 Cafcass received a total of 43,842 new private law cases.
- This figure shows a 4.9% increase compared with the previous financial year.
April 2017 – March 2018
- Between April 2017 and March 2018 Cafcass received a total of 41,794 new private law cases.
- This figure shows a 3.1% increase compared with the previous financial year.
April 2016 – March 2017
- Between April 2016 and March 2017 Cafcass received a total of 40,506 new private law cases.
- This figure shows an 8.3% increase compared with the previous financial year.
Updates to this information is published on an annual basis.
How long care and supervision cases last
The target length of time for completing care and supervision (s31) cases, as set out in the Public Law Outline (PLO), is 26 weeks.
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Annual summaries
The average for 2020-21 is 41 calendar weeks, this is up by 7 weeks on the previous year.
The average for 2019-20 is 34 calendar weeks, this is up by 3 weeks on the previous year.
The average for 2018-19 was 31 calendar weeks, this is up by 2 weeks on the previous year.
The average for 2017-18 was 29 calendar weeks, this is up by 1 week on the previous year.
The average for 2016-17 was 28 calendar weeks, this is down by 1 week on the previous year.
The average for 2015-16 was 29 calendar weeks, this is down by 1 week on the previous year.
The average for 2014-15 was 30 calendar weeks, a seven week reduction compared with the average of 37 weeks for 2013-14
The average for 2013-14 was 37 calendar weeks, an eleven week reduction compared with the average of 48 calendar weeks for 2012-13.
The average for 2012-13 was 48 weeks, a nine week reduction compared with the average of 57 weeks for 2011-12.
National picture of care applications in England
Cafcass produces annual statistics on the number of care applications received per 10,000 child population – the rate of care applications – by each local authority (LA) in England with children’s services responsibilities. The latest information available is for the years 2008-2009 to 2016-2017.
The rate of care application is significant as it helps identify trends in care proceedings independent of population growth.
The below table shows the national rates of care applications between the year 2009-2010 to 2018-2019. You can also download the Table of LA rates of care application per 10,000 population.
| 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 |
2019-20 | 2020-21 | |
| National Rate | 8.0 | 8.3 | 9.0 | 9.7 | 9.2 | 9.7 | 11.0 | 12.3 | 11.9 | 11.3 | 10.8 | 10.5 |