Written evidence submitted by Children
Law UK (CAF 33)
SUBMISSION FROM
CHILDREN LAW
UK
Children Law UK is an independent voluntary
organisation working for Children and Families involved in legal
proceedings. It is multidisciplinary and covers the whole of the
UK. Children Law UK welcomes the opportunity to make a submission
to the House of Commons' Committee inquiry into CAFCASS. The membership
of Children of children Law UK has been consulted and details
of the inquiry were placed on its website. Observations are confined
to those sections that are relevant to the Courts.
Introduction
Children Law UK has supported CAFCASS since
its inception. Lawson and Hunt (1998) and many high profile papers
and events made an excellent case for combining the Guardian ad
Litem and Reporting Officer panels, the Office of the Official
Solicitor and the Family Court Welfare service to form a unified
support and advisory service to the Family Courts. There was much
goodwill towards the new service and expectations were high. It
is disappointing that some two years into its existence there
is not meaningful development in place to meet these aspirations
and, in some areas, the level of service has declined. It is also
disappointing that well documented concerns about different terms
and conditions of employment are taking so long to resolve.
SUBMISSION
In respect of Private Law cases:
The situation varies over the country. In London,
cases are adjourned for 12 weeks to obtain a Court Reporter's
report and for a shorter period for an addendum report. In general,
timetables are adhered to and the reports are satisfactory. In
some places the adjournment date is not met which results in delay.
The number of Private Law cases varies as well and the fluctuation
in workload is at times difficult to accommodate. In addition
there is concern that extra investigations resulting from allegations
of domestic violence will add to an already heavy workload. It
is acknowledged that practitioners are committed to their work.
In respect of Public Law cases:
Again, the situation varies over the country
and in some areas the recruitment of Guardians has led to an improvement
in the allocation of Guardians to cases. However, there is widespread
concern at the number of unallocated cases (currently 609 nationally)
and the time cases are remaining on the list awaiting allocation.
This is critical in Inner City Areas. In Inner London there are
56 cases awaiting the appointment of a children's Guardian. This
has remained at an unacceptably high level for many months now.
Public law applications in London increased by 8% last year and
the request for Guardians is likely to increase further with implementation
of the Adoption and Children Act. Lack of a Guardian causes delay
and cases have to proceed during the early stages without one.
This means that Courts have to make decisions to remove children
from their families without adequate welfare advice. Waiting times
for allocation can be up to 12 weeks. This shortage is exacerbated
by the loss of experienced Guardians and the recruitment of new
Guardians which has failed to keep up with demand and has resulted
in a number inexperienced Guardians being allocated to cases.
Lawyers representing children are at times approaching Guardians
direct in an attempt to jump the queue. Frequently, no Guardian
is appointed in applications for Secure Accommodation. In some
areas the provision of a duty Guardian scheme is under discussion.
This would be welcome and would assist at the early stages of
all cases where a Guardian has not yet been allocated.
Agency staff are being used to cover the shortfall
which adds to the cost of the service. However, Children Law UK
would urge CAFCASS to use more agency staff to clear the backlog.
This has the additional merit of employing some experienced, independent
Guardians who have left the service but not yet moved on to alternative
employment.
CONCLUSION
Expectations, of improved services, were raised
in support of the setting up of the combined service have failed
to materialise and in some areas the service provided by CAFCASS
has consistently failed to maintain the level of service that
existed prior to the amalgamation and creation of the new service.
Repeated expressions of concern are continually explained by budget
constraints, staff problems and recruiting problems in inner city
areas. However, the input and commitment of individual Guardians
is high with the retention of a significant number of skilled
and knowledgeable practitioners. Lawyers for children, CAFCASS
managers, Court legal staff and benches do their best to ensure
that children are safe. Children Law UK is gravely concerned that
the delay in the appointment of Children's Guardians is placing
vulnerable children at risk and that delay in already lengthy
cases is increasing. There are welcome signs that the current
Chief Executive has the will and commitment to overcome the difficulties
and meet the challenges ahead. It is hoped that he will have the
budget to do so.
Children Law UK
March 2001
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